n/.  '3- 


THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 


OF  THE 


ANCIENT  HEBREWS. 


THE 


HISTORICAL  POETRY 


ANCIENT  HEBREWS, 


TRANSLATED  AND   CRITICALLY  EXAMINED 


BY 

MICHAEL  LTEILPRIN. 


Volume  II. 


NEW  YORK : 

D.    APPLETON  AND   COMPANY, 

1  and  3  bond  street. 

London  .  16  Little  Britain. 
1880. 


Copyright,  18S0,  by  M.  Hkilprin. 


All  rlqlUa  reserved. 


The  Historical  Poetry 


OF  THE 


ANCIENT  HEBEEWS. 


XXII. 

Mentions  of  King  David  abound  in  Scriptural 
poetry.  No  other  mortar  s  name  is  similarly  glori- 
fied in  it.  Yet  even  his  occurs  only  incidentally. 
At  some  length  he  is  spoken  of  in  two  psalms  of 
late  origin,  the  eighty-ninth  and  one-hundred-thirty- 
second  ;  but  he  is  the  real  subject  of  neither.  The 
theme  of  the  former  is  the  threatening  or  accom- 
plished downfall  of  the  Judaean  throne,  involving  the 
tragic  fate  of  one  of  David's  descendants — perhaps 
Josiah  or  Zedekiah,  more  probably  Jeconiah ;  and 
of  the  latter,  Zion  arising  from  her  ruin,  and  her 
sacred  claim  to  become  again  the  seat  of  a  power- 
ful Davidic  dynasty.  In  both,  the  retrospect  forms 
a  contrast  with  the  present  of  the  nation,  and  is  to 
show  that  the  divine  blessings  vouchsafed  Israel  in 
connection  with  the  son  of  Jesse  are  still  held  in 
abeyance.     Both  reecho  popular  traditions  already 


2  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

embodied  in  history.  The  former  song  paraphrases 
a  part  of  II.  Samuel  vii.  in  the  following  lines,  which 
are  loosely  attached  to  an  invocation  of  the  God  of 
Hosts,  descriptive  of  his  power,  justice,  and  truth : 

(Psalm  LXXXIX.) 

(20  [19])  Once  thou  spokest  in  a  vision  to  thy  saint,1 
thus  :  '  I  bestow  help2  upon  a  hero, 
I  exalt  a  youth  out  of  the  people. 
I  have  found  David,  my  servant ; 
with  my  holy  oil  I  anoint  him. 
My  hand  shall  be  firm  on  him, 
my  arm  shall  give  him  strength. 
No  enemy  shall  exact  of  him, 
no  son  of  wickedness  oppress  him. 
I  will  crush  his  foes  before  him, 
I  will  rout  his  assailants. 

(25  [24])  My  truth,  my  mercy,  shall  be  with  him  ; 
in  my  name  shall  his  horn  be  exalted. 
Upon  the  sea  I  lay  his  hand, 
iiis  right  arm  upon  the  streams.3 
He  calls  me  :  "  Thou  art  my  father, 
my  God,  the  rock  of  my  salvation." 

1  thy  saint]  The  prophet  Nathan  is  probably  meant ;  see  II.  Sam. 
vii. ,  and  compare  the  word  'hizzdydii,  vision,  used  there  (verse  17)  with 
'hdzon  in  the  verse  before  us. 

2 lielp]  Heb.  'ezer,  which,  as  has  been  presumed,  stands  perhaps 
for  nezer,  a  crown;  cf.  nizro,  his  crown,  in  verse  40  of  our  psalm  and 
in  Ps.  cxxxii.  18,  and  II.  Kings  xi.  12. 

3  t/ie  streams]  '  In  the  first  line,  the  Euphrates  and  its  canals ' 
(Olshausen). 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  3 

And  I  make  him  my  firstborn, 

the  highest  of  the  kings  of  the  earth. 

I  keep  my  mercy  for  him  eternally, 

my  covenant  remains  true  to  him. 
(30  [29])  I  make  his  posterity  to  endure  for  ever, 

his  throne  as  the  days  of  heaven. 

If  his  children  forsake  my  law, 

and  walk  not  in  my  judgments  ; 

if  they  trample  upon  my  statutes, 

and  keep  not  my  commandments — 

I  will  punish  their  transgression  with  the  rod, 

their  iniquity  with  inflictions  ; 

but  my  mercy  for  him  I  waste  not, 

I  repudiate  not  my  fidelity  ; 
(35  [34])  I  break  not  my  covenant, 

nor  alter  the  utterance  of  my  lips. 

I  have  sworn  it  once  in  my  holy  abode — 4 

surely  I  deceive  not  David! 

His  posterity  shall  endure  for  ever, 

his  throne  as  the  sun  before  me — 

firm  as  the  moon  for  evermore, 

that  steadfast  witness  in  heaven.' 5 

4  in  my  holy  abode]  Cf.  Ps.  Ix.  8  (6).     Others  render,  by  my  holiness. 

5  firm  .  .  .  heaven]  According  to  the  Masoretic  text.  The 
words  -{y\  and  pn^'3  are,  however,  very  probably  corruptions  of 
~yi  (Olshausen)  and  pr\\&3i   tne  correct  sentence  running    thus: 

la^)  pn$3  iy.^T  ubty  ]i3?  n"V3>  nrm  as  tne  moon  for  ever  and 
ever,  unshaken  as  heaven.  Cf.  '  as  the  days  of  heaven,'  above.  Com- 
pare also  this  conclusion  with  the  concluding  sentences  of  Nathan's 
communication  to  David  (II.  Sam.  vii.  16),  which  contain  the  per- 
fectly corresponding  words  1QX3  ancl  IIDj- 


4  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

The  other  song,  which  extols  David' s  zeal  in  estab- 
lishing the  ark  of  Jehovah  in  Zion,  and  emphasizes 
the  sacredness  of  both  his  seat  and  dynasty,  can  be 
given  here  entire : 

(Psalm  CXXXII.) 

(1)  Kemember,  0  Jehovah,  to  David 

all  his  pains  ; 

how  he  swore  to  Jehovah, 

vowed  to  Jacob's  mighty  one  : 

'  Surely  I  will  not  enter  my  dwelling-tent, 

nor  ascend  the  bed,  my  couch, 

nor  give  sleep  to  my  eyes, 

nor  slumber  to  my  eyelids, 
(5)  until  I  find  a  plac^  for  Jehovah, 

a  habitation  for  Jacob's  mighty  one.' 

1  Lo,  we  heard  of  it  at  Ephratah, 

we  found  it  in  the  forest-fields. 6 

Let  us  go  to  his  habitation, 

let  us  worship  at  his  footstool. 

Arise,  0  Jehovah,  to  thy  resting-place  ; 

thou,  with  the  ark  of  thy  majesty. 

•  Lo  .  .  .  forest-fields]  '  David's  words  after  he  had  so  far 
attained  his  wish  that  the  ark  had  heen  brought  up  to  Zion.  When 
we  were  at  Ephratah  (the  old  name  for  Bethlehem) — i.e.,  in  David's 
youth — we  knew  of  the  ark  only  by  hearsay :  .  .  .  it  was  neg- 
lected and  never  visited.'  (Fausset.)  '  Forest-fields  '  probably  desig- 
nates the  territory  of  Kirjath-Jearim  (forest-city),  where  the  ark  was 
kept  after  its  restoration  by  the  Philistines  (I.  Sam.  vii.  1,  2).  There 
are,  however,  various  other — though  hardly  any  more  acceptable — 
explanations  of  this  verse,  based  on  different  meanings  applied  to  the 
name  Ephratah  and  the  term  'forest-fields.' 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  g 

Let  thy  priests  be  robed  with  salvation, 

and  thy  devout  men  shout  for  joy — 
(10)  for  the  sake  of  David,  thy  servant ; 

turn  not  away  the  face  of  thy  anointed.' 
Jehovah  has  sworn  to  David 

a  true  word,  from  which  he  turns  not  back  : 

'  Of  the  fruit  of  thy  body  will  I  set  upon  thy  throne. 

If  thy  sons  will  observe  my  covenant, 

and  the  testimony  I  teach  them, 

their  sons,  too,  for  ever, 

shall  sit  upon  thy  throne.' 
For  Jehovah  has  chosen  Zion, 

has  lovingly  made  it  his  abode  : 

1  This  is  my  resting-place  for  evermore, 

here  will  I  dwell,  for  I  love  her. 
(15)  Her  provision  I  will  richly  bless, 

her  needy  I  will  satiate  with  bread  ; 

her  priests  I  will  robe  with  victory, 

her  devout  men  shall  shout  and  shout  for  joy. 

There  I  will  cause  David's  horn  to  bud, 

there  I  erect  a  lamp  for  my  anointed. 

His  enemies  I  will  clothe  with  shame, 

but  on  him  his  crown  shall  flourish.' 

The  four  lines  of  this  psalm  beginning  with  '  Arise, 
O  Jehovah '  are  also  contained,  almost  literally,  in 
the  sixth  chapter  of  II.  Chronicles, 7  where  they  form 
the  concluding  portion  of  Solomon's  prayer  at  the 
consecration  of  the  temple  ;  and,  according  to  those 

7  Verses  41,  42. 


6  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

critics  who"  regard  the  song  as  a  later  production 
even  than  Chronicles,  they  may  have  been  bor- 
rowed from  that  book,  and  quoted  as  the  invocation 
of  David' s  successor,  who  executed  what  his  father 
intended,  but  was  not  allowed,  to  do.  But  as  these 
words  do  not  appear  in  the  identical  Solomonic 
prayer  as  given  in  the  much  older  book  of  Kings,9 
they  were  probably  original  with  the  psalmist,  and 
from  him  cleverly  appropriated  by  the  chronicler,  a 
writer  of  exceedingly  lax  historical  principles,  as  has 
been  abundantly  proved.10 

The  psalmist  evidently  had  the  narratives  of  the 
second  book  of  Samuel11  before  him,  and  him,  as  a 
poet,  we  may,  perhaps,  excuse  for  the  license  with 
which  he  made  use  of  his  sources.  For  his  picture 
of  David  is  widely  different  from  the  picture  ex- 
hibited in  that  history.  According  to  the  psalmist, 
the  great  king's  first  care  was  the  establishment  of 
a  sanctuary  for  Jehovah  ;  before  achieving  that  pur- 
pose he  would  not  enjoy  the  innocent  comforts  of  a 


8  Like  Olshausen. 

9  I.  Kings  viii. 

10  Lastly,  and  probably  most  fully,  by  Wellhausen,  in  bis  '  Gescbicbte 
Israels.'  Tbe  borrowed  words  serve  as  a  substitute  for  tbe  conclud- 
ing sentences  of  the  prayer  as  given  in  I.  Kings  viii., which  Chronicles 
omits,  apparently — as  Wellhausen  (ibid,  vol.  i.  p.  193)  sagaciously  re- 
marks— in  order  to  get  rid  of  a  verse  (50)  containing  an  allusion  to  the 
captivity,  and  thus  betraying  the  late  manufacture  of  the  whole 
prayer. 

11  Compare  chapters  vi.  and  vii. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  7 

tent  or  of  a  bed.  The  historian12  relates  the  first 
doings  of  David,  after  his  election  as  king  over  all 
Israel,  in  this  order :  he  conquered  Zion ;  he  had  a 
palace  built  to  himself ;  he  '  took  more  concubines 
and  wives.' 

While  David  is  thus  more  favorably  treated  in 
poetry  than  even  in  history,  his  son  Solomon  is  a 
great  national  hero  in  the  historical  narratives  of 
Scripture — besides  figuring  as  an  author  in  spurious 
superscriptions — but  the  prophets  and  psalmists 
whose  writings  we  possess  have  not  a  word  to  say 
about  him.  The  halo  of  wisdom  and  magnificence 
which  surrounded  his  name  seems  to  have  been  less 
dazzling  to  the  eyes  of  the  pious  men  of  Israel  than 
the  stories  of  his  profligacy,  tyranny,  and  idolatrous 
practices  were  shocking  to  their  moral  instincts. 
David  had  toiled,  struggled,  and  conquered,  and 
created  a  powerful  throne  and  nation  :  Solomon  had 
only  enjoyed  and  squandered  the  resources  accumu- 
lated by  his  father ;  his  long  and  peaceful  reign  had 
led  to  the  nation's  division.  It  is  true,  he  had 
built  the  temple  of  Zion  for  Jehovah :  but  had  he 
not  also  erected  seats  of  worship  '  for  Chemosh,-  the 
abomination  of  Moab,  on  the  hill  before  Jerusalem, 
and  for  Molech,  the  abomination  of  the  children  of 
Ammon,'  and  gone  'after  Ash  tore  th,  the  goddess  of 
the  Zidonians,  and  after  Milcom,  the  abomination  of 
the  Ammonites '  V3  Wise  sayings,  teaching  frugal  ab- 

12 II.  Sam.  v.  1-14. 
13 1.  Kinsre  xi.  5-7. 


8  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

stinence,  industry,  and  prudence,  were  current  among 
the  people  under  the  name  of  'proverbs  of  Solo- 
mon' :  but  had  not  his  own  life  been  one  grand  ex- 
hibition of  unbridled  extravagance  and  lust,  of 
recklessness  and  folly  %  Men  of  the  stamp  of  Amos, 
Micah,  or  Isaiah  may  not  have  believed,  what  popu- 
lar stories  related,  that  Solomon's  court  tables  con- 
sumed daily  '  ten  fat  oxen,  and  twenty  oxen  out  of 
the  pastures,  and  a  hundred  sheep,  besides  harts, 
and  gazelles,  and  fallow-deer,  and  fatted  fowl';14 
that,  in  times  of  profound  peace,  he  had  thousands 
of  stalls  of  horses  for  his  chariots  ;15  or  that  '  he 
had  seven  hundred  wives,  princesses,  and  three 
hundred  concubines"6 — but  neither  did  such  men 
believe  in  his  much -vaunted  wisdom  and  justice, 
or  in  the  equally  vaunted  felicity  of  the  people 
under  his  sceptre. 

A  purely  worldly — we  might  say,  an  epicurean — 
Solomon  is  introduced  in  the  Song  of  Songs,  that 
charming  pastoral  drama  or  collection  of  idyls  the 
authorship  and  composition  of  which  have  been  sub- 
jected to  so  many  and  so  diverse  efforts  of  investiga- 
tion. We  see  there  a  king  in  his  circle,  and  near 
his  throne  a  damsel  as  beautiful  as  his  curtains,  as 

14 1.  Kings  v.  2  (iv.  23). 

15 1.  Kings  v.  6  (iv.  25)  has  '  forty  thousand ' ;  II.  Chr.  ix.  25,  '  four 
thousand.'  The  larger  number  is  probably  a  clerical  error,  judging 
by  I.  Kings  x.  26  and  the  corresponding  statement  in  II.  Chr.  i.  14, 
which  accord  with  the  smaller  number. 

16  I.  Kinps  xi.  3. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  9 

the  mare  harnessed  to  his  Pharaonic  chariot,17  but 
as  pure  and  chaste  as  are  not  his  sixty  queens,  eighty 
concubines,  and  maidens  without  number.18   Then — 

'  Behold,  Solomon's  palanquin ! 
Sixty  heroes  surround  it, 
of  Israel's  heroes ; 
all  armed  with  swords, 
skilled  in  warfare ; 
each  has  his  sword  on  his  thigh, 
from  fear  in  the  night. 

A  litter  King  Solomon  has  made  for  himself 
of  Lebanon's  wood. 
Its  pillars  he  made  of  silver, 
its  support  of  gold, 
its  seat  of  purple  ; 
its  midst  is  strewn  with  love 
won  from  Jerusalem's  daughters. 
Come  out,  and  gaze, 
ye  daughters  of  Zion, 
at  Solomon,  the  king — 
crowned  as  his  mother  crowned  him 
on  the  day  of  his  nuptials, 
the  day  of  his  heart's  delight.' 19 

The  king  possesses  a  precious  vineyard  in  Baal- 
Hamon,20  and  we  read  of  three  of  his  towers  :  a 

»  Cant.  i.  5,  9,  12. 

18  Cant.  vi.  8,  9. 

19  Cant.  iii.  7-11. 

20  For  this  unknown  name  (Cant.  viii.  11)  Graetz  substitutes  Baal- 
Hermon. 


10  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

tower  of  ivory/1  a  tower  of  Lebanon,  looking  toward 
Damascus,"  and 

'  the  tower  of  David, 
built  for  trophies  ;23 
a  thousand  bucklers  are  hung  on  it, 
the  shields  of  the  heroes  all. ' 34 

This  last  fragment  might,  perhaps,  be  deemed  a 
historical  reminiscence  of  King  David's  reign — if 
the  Song  of  Songs  contained  anything  really  histori- 
cal. The  fact  is,  this  gem  of  pastoral  poetry  is  as 
fanciful  throughout  as  it  is  fascinating  in  almost  all 
its  parts. 

Of  Solomon's  successors  in  the  two  kingdoms  into 
which  his  realm  was  rent  on  his  death,  none  of  the 
first  five  who  reigned  in  either — Rehoboam,  Abijah, 
Asa,  Jehoshaphat,  Jehoram,  of  Judah ;  Jeroboam 
I. ,  Nadab,  Baasha,  Elah,  Zimri,  of  Israel  —  is  men- 
tioned by  name  in  a  single  poetical  line  of  Scripture  ; 
unless  Joel's  'valley  of  Jehoshaphat,'  in  which 
Jehovah  judges  {shaphat)  all  nations,"  is  not  a 
visionary  spot  of  prophecy,  but  a  real  one,  called 
after  the  king  of  the  same  name. 

21  Cant.  vii.  5  (4). 

22  Ibid. 

23  trophies]  Heb.  taVpiyyoth,  an  imitation  of  the  Gr.  rpoitala.  (See 
note  A,  at  the  end  of  the  volume.) 

24  Cant.  iv.  4. 

25  Joel  iv.  (iii.)  2,  12. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  \\ 


XXIIL 

The  first  rulers  of  the  ten  tribes  mentioned  in  a 
prophetical  book  are  the  two  next  successors  of 
Zimri,  Omri  and  Ahab,  father  and  son,  the  latter  of 
whom,  according  to  Biblical  chronology,  ended  his 
career  about  900  B.C.1  They  are  very  severely  ad- 
verted to  in  the  prophecies  ascribed  to  Micah  of 
Moresheth,2  who  announced  visions  'concerning 
Samaria  and  Jerusalem '  '  in  the  days  of  Jotham, 
Ahaz,  and  Hezekiah,  kings  of  Judah,'  all  of  whom 
reigned  in  the  latter  half  of  the  eighth  century  B.C. 
The  record  of  Omri  in  the  book  of  Kings  is  brief : 
He  was  proclaimed  king  against  the  usurper  Zimri 
by  the  army  besieging  Gibbethon,  and  speedily 
overthrew  him,  as  well  as  a  rival  pretender  to  the 
throne,  Tibni.  He  built  Samaria,  and  made  it  the 
capital  instead  of  Tirzah.  In  each  of  these  cities  he 
reigned  six  years.  To  this  is  added  :  'But  Omri  did 
what  was  evil  in  the  eyes  of  Jehovah  ;  he  did  worse 
than  anyone  before  him.  For  he  walked  in  all  the 
way  of  Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Nebat,  and  in  his  sin, 
wherewith  he  made  Israel  to  sin,'  etc.3    This  sum- 


1  According  to  Oppert  ('  Salomon  et  ses  successeurs '),  in  900.     See 
note  B,  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 
5  Mic.  i.  1,  vi.  16. 
3  I.  Kings  xvi.  15-28. 


12  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

mary  statement  of  the  evil  done  by  Omri  gives  us 
no  insight  into  the  character  of  his  reign,  for  a  more 
or  less  identical  reference  to  the  practice  of  idolatry, 
as  sanctioned  by  Jeroboam — or  rather  of  the  wor- 
ship of  Jehovah  under  the  symbol  of  a  bull — is  at- 
tached by  the  author  or  by  a  redactor  of  Kings  to  the 
record  of  every  successor  of  Jeroboam,  with  one  or 
two  hardly  noticeable  exceptions.4  To  the  pious 
Judsean  who  wrote  these  uniform  statements  the 
wickedness  of  all  the  kings  of  the  ten  tribes  was 
apparent  from  their  failing  to  suppress  what  the 
more  enlightened  Israelitish  spirit  of  his  own  time 
branded  as  idolatry,  and  also  from  the  terrible  fate 
which  had  befallen  their  throne  and  people.  When 
he  wrote,  Israel  was  lost  completely  ;  Judah  was 
still  capable  of  resurrection.  Besides,  had  not  all 
the  kings  of  Israel  been  guilty  as  usurpers  %  Had 
not  their  power  originated  in  criminal  secession  from 
Judah,  in  rebellion  against  the  divinely  ordained 
throne  of  David  t  The  general  stigma  of  wicked- 
ness is  thus  applied  to  each  monarch  separately,  not 
excepting  such  successful  princes  as  Omri,  Joash, 
or  Jeroboam  II.  That  Omri  receives  even  more 
blame  than  others  may  be  owing  to  his  having 
founded  a  dynasty  of  which  Ahab  was  the  most 
conspicuous   representative.      Unfortunately,    how- 

4  Shallum,  who  reigned  only  one  month,  forms  one  exception  (II. 
Kings  xv.  10-15);  Hoshea's  evil-doing  is  mildly  extenuated  (II. 
Kings  xvii.  2). 

5  A  full  exposition  of  these  views  is  given  in  II.  Kings  xvii.  7-23. 


OF  TUX  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  13 

ever,  the  condemnation  of  Omri  is  justified  by 
Micali,  and  that  of  Jeroboam  II.  by  Amos,  a  con- 
temporary. 6 

The  sketch  of  Ahab  in  Kings  is  the  fullest  allotted 
to  any  successor  of  Solomon  in  either  kingdom. 
And,  entwined  as  it  is  with  the  legends  of  the 
prophet  Elijah  the  Tishbite,  it  forms  one  of  the  most 
interesting  narratives  of  the  Scriptures.  It  is  the 
history  of  a  reign,  in  which  three  leading  characters 
are  depicted  with  almost  equal  distinctness :  the 
king,  his  Phoenician  queen,  and  the  prophet.  The 
grand  figure  of  Elijah  is  drawn  in  mythical  traits, 
but  Ahab  and  Jezebel,  in  spite  of  their  connection 
with  him,  appear  always  in  a  perfectly  natural 
aspect :  the  king  always  inclined  to  magnanimity, 
but  again  and  again  criminal  from  weakness  ;  the 
queen  remorselessly  despotic,  cruelly  fanatical,  and 
haughty  to  the  bitter  end.  A  portion  of  their  his- 
tory must  be  reproduced  here,  in  an  abridged  form. 

Ahab,  having  married  Jezebel,  the  daughter  of  a 
Phoenician  king,  introduced  the  worship  of  the 
Phoenician  Baal,  building  for  him  a  temple  in 
Samaria,  and  soon  allowed  his  consort  to  suppress 
the  worship,  and  almost  entirely  to  exterminate  the 
prophets,  of  Jehovah.  Among  the  few  who  escaped 
her  sword  was  Elijah,  and  he  profited  by  a  terrible 
drought,  in  which  the  king  could  not  but  see  a 
divine  infliction,  to  induce  him  to  change  his  policy. 

6  See  Am.  vii. 


14  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

A  miracle  convinced  the  people  that  Jehovah  was 
the  God,  and  Baal  a  powerless  idol,  and  Elijah  was 
allowed  to  slaughter  the  prophets  who  sided  with 
the  queen.  But  the  latter  vowed  bloody  vengeance, 
and  Elijah  again  became  a  fugitive.7 

About  this  time  Ben-Hadad,  king  of  Damas- 
cene Syria,  marched  a  powerful  army  against  Ahab, 
and  besieged  him  in  Samaria.  He  demanded  shame- 
ful submission,  and  Ahab  resisted.  The  Syrian 
made  preparations  for  storming  the  city.  Now  an 
unnamed  prophet  approached  Ahab,  and  in  Je- 
hovah's name  predicted  the  total  discomfiture  of 
the  Syrian  army.  '  By  whom  % '  asked  Ahab.  '  By 
the  young  men  of  the  governors  of  the  districts,' 
was  the  answer.  The  king  asked  again,  '  Who  shall 
direct  the  battle?'  'Thou,'  replied  the  prophet. 
Ahab  numbered  the  young  men,  as  advised :  they 
were  two  hundred  and  thirty  two ;  and,  to  follow 
them,  he  numbered 'all  the  people,  all  the  children 
of  Israel,  seven  thousand  men.'  A  sortie  was  made 
at  noon,  when  Ben-Hadad  and  the  vassal  kings  who 
commanded  his  troops  were  drinking  themselves 
drunk  in  their  tents.  The  sudden  attack  by  the 
vanguard  completely  succeeded,  and  Ben-Hadad 
fled  ;  '  and  the  king  of  Israel  went  out,  and  routed 
the  horses  and  chariots,  and  inflicted  great  slaughter 
on  the  Syrians.'  In  the  following  year  Ben-Hadad 
again  invaded  Ahab's  kingdom,  but,  although  his 

1 1.  Kinc;s  xvi.-xix. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  15 

men  filled  the  land,  and  the  children  of  Israel 
'pitched  before  them  like  two  little  flocks  of  kids,' 
this  invasion,  too,  ended  most  disastrously,  and  the 
king  of  Syria  owed  his  life  to  the  generosity  of  his 
enemy.8 

After  these  events  the  following  took  place: 
Naboth  of  Jezreel  had  a  vineyard  in  that  town,  hard 
by  the  royal  palace.  The  king  offered  to  buy  it  for 
a  vegetable  garden,  promising  to  give  for  it  a  better 
vineyard  or  its  value  in  money,  if  desired.  But 
Naboth  refused  to  barter  away  the  inheritance  of 
his  fathers.  This  terribly  grieved  Ahab  ;  returning 
to  the  palace,  he  lay  down  on  his  bed,  and  turned 
away  his  face,  and  would  take  no  food.  Jezebel 
asked  what  distracted  him,  and  he  told  her  how  he 
had  been  mortified.  The  queen  exclaimed,  '  Well 
dost  thou  bear  royal  sway  over  Israel !  Get  up  and 
eat,  and  be  of  good  cheer :  I  will  give  thee  the  vine- 
yard of  Naboth,  the  Jezreelite.'  She  now  wrote 
letters  in  Ahab's  name,  sealing  them  with  his  seal, 
to  the  elders  and  nobles  of  Jezreel,  and  ordered  them 
to  assemble  the  people,  and  have  Naboth  falsely 
accused  of  blasphemy  against  God  and  the  king, 
and  stoned  to  death.  The  order  was  executed  to 
the  letter,  and  Jezebel  told  Ahab  that  the  vineyard 
which  Naboth  had  refused  to  give  him  for  money 
was  now  king' s  property.  When  he  went  down  to 
take  possession  of  it,  Elijah  the  Tishbite  suddenly 

8 1.  Kinc;s  xx. 


16  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

appeared  before  him,  and  said,  'Thus  thou  mur- 
derest,  and  also  takest  possession  %  Thus  says  Je- 
hovah, ' '  At  the  spot  where  dogs  licked  the  blood  of 
Naboth  dogs  shall  lick  thy  blood,  too."  '  And  he 
added,  '  Concerning  Jezebel,  too,  Jehovah  has  spoken 
thus:  "The  dogs  shall  eat  Jezebel  on  the  wall- 
ground9  of  Jezreel."  On  hearing  these  words 
Ahab  rent  his  garments,  and  fasted,  and  lay  in  sack- 
cloth, humbling  himself  before  Jehovah. I0 

After  three  years  of  peace  between  Syria  and 
Israel  Ahab  bethought  himself  that  Ramoth-in- 
Gilead  had  not  been  retaken  from  the  Syrians,  and 
proposed  an  offensive  alliance  against  them  to 
Jehoshaphat,  who  had  come  to  see  him.  The  king 
of  Judah  cordially  declared  his  readiness  to  muster 
his  foot  and  horse,  but  was  anxious  to  hear  the  word 
of  Jehovah  about  the  enterprise.  Ahab  thereupon 
assembled  the  prophets,  about  four  hundred  men, 
and  inquired  whether  he  should  march  on  Ramoth, 
or  not.  Their  answer  was  unanimous :  '  March  on- 
ward !  the  Lord  will  give  it  into  the  hand  of  the 
king.'  This  answer  in  the  name  of  'the  Lord'11 — 
by  which  Baal  was  perhaps  meant — did  not  satisfy 
Jehoshaphat,  and  he  asked,  '  Is  not  there  a  prophet 
of  Jehovah,  besides,  of  whom  we   might  inquire? 

9  wall-ground']  Or  glacis,  Heb.  'M ;  this,  however,  as  has  been 
remarked,  evidently  stands,  by  mistake,  for  'heleq,  field-portion.  See 
II.  Kings  ix.  36,  and  below. 

10  I.  Kings  xxi. 

11  See  the  Hebrew  text  of  the  narrative. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  17 

Ahab  said,  '  There  is  yet  one  man  through  whom  we 
may  inquire  of  Jehovah,  but  I  hate  him ;  for  he 
prophesies  no  good  concerning  me,  but  evil:  it  is 
Micaiah,  the  son  of  Imlah.'  Yet  Jehoshaphat 
wished  to  hear  him,  and  he  was  brought  before  the 
two  kings,  who  received  him  sitting  on  thrones  in 
the  entrance  of  the  gate  of  Samaria,  and  surrounded 
by  the  prophets.  Of  these,  Zedekiah,  the  son  of  Che- 
naanah,  had  come  with  a  pair  of  iron  horns,  saying,  in 
the  name  of  Jehovah,  '  With  these  thou  shalt  thrust 
the  Syrians,  until  thou  destroyest  them.'  And  all 
the  others  chimed  in :  '  March  on  Ramoth-in-Gilead, 
and  succeed !  Jehovah  will  give  it  into  the  hand  of 
the  king.'  Addressed  by  Ahab,  Micaiah  ironically 
repeated  the  encouraging  words  of  the  other  prophets, 
but  when  pressed  for  a  solemn  answer,  he  said,  '  I 
saw  all  Israel  scattered  on  the  hills,  like  sheep  that 
have  no  shepherd;  and  Jehovah  said,  "These  have 
no  master:  let  them  return  each  to  his  house  in 
peace."  '  And  he  added,  'Hear  the  word  of  Jeho- 
vah :  I  saw  Jehovah  sitting  on  his  throne,  and  all 
the  host  of  heaven  standing  by  him,  on  his  right 
hand  and  on  his  left.  And  Jehovah  said,  "Who 
will  persuade  Ahab,  that  he  may  march  onward  and 
fall  at  Ramoth-in-Gilead?"  And  one  said  thus,  and 
another  so.  Then  the  spirit"  stepped  forward,  and 
stood  before  Jehovah,  and  said,  "/  will  persuade 
him."     And  Jehovah  said  to  him,  "Wherewith?" 


ij 


12  the  spirit]    Heb.  hdrua'h,  with  the  definite  article;  the  spirit  of 
prophecy  (Kimhi,  Keil,  Thenius,  and  others). 


18  TEE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

And  he  said,  "I  will  go  forth  and  be  a  spirit  of  false- 
hood in  the  mouth  of  all  his  prophets."  And  the 
reply  was,  ' '  Thou  shalt  persuade  him,  and  prevail : 
go  forth  and  do  so.*'  Now  behold,  Jehovah  has 
put  a  spirit  of  falsehood  into  the  mouth  of  all  thy 
prophets  here,  and  Jehovah  has  decreed  evil  con- 
cerning thee.'  Here  Zedekiah,  the  son  of  Chenaanah, 
approached  Micaiah,  and  struck  him  on  the  cheek, 
saying,  'Which  way  did  Jehovah's  spirit  go  over 
from  me  to  speak  to  thee  \ '  And  Micaiah  answered, 
'  Thou  shalt  see  it  in  that  day  when  thou  wilt  go 
into  the  innermost  chamber  to  hide  thyself.'  Ahab 
now  ordered  the  keeping  of  Micaiah  in  prison  till 
his  own  return  in  peace,  whereupon  the  prophet 
said,  '  If  thou  returnest  in  peace  at  all,  Jehovah  has 
not  spoken  through  me.'  And  he  added,  'Hear,  ye 
peoples13  all.'  All  this  notwithstanding,  the  march 
on  Ramoth  was  undertaken  by  both  kings.  In  the 
battle  which  ensued  Ahab  was  wounded,  and  with- 
drew to  the  rear,  but  remained  standing  in  his 
chariot,  facing  the  enemy,  while  his  blood  flowed 
from  his  wound,  until,  in  the  evening,  he  expired. 
His  men  now  returned  to  their  homes.14 

Of  Ahab's  two  sons  and  successors,  Ahaziah  died 

13  peoples]  Or,  tribes.  The  word  can  be  explained  as  addressed 
to  Israel  and  Judah,  whose  kings  were  present,  and  to  all  other 
nations,  or  merely  to  the  tribes  of  Israel.  The  rendering  of  the  pi. 
'ammlm  by  people  (Ger.  Leute),  which  the  Authorized  Version  adopts 
both  here  and  in  the  identical  phrase  in  Micah  (i.  2),  and  Theuius 
here,  after  Hitzig  on  Joel  ii.  G,  is  not  well  supported. 

14 1.  Kings  xxii. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  19 

of  a  fall  through  the  lattice  of  his  upper  chamber, 
and  Joram  was  overthrown  by  his  own  general 
Jehu.  The  latter  had  been  secretly  anointed  king 
against  him  by  an  emissary  of  the  prophet  Elisha, 
upon  whom  the  mantle  of  Elijah  had  fallen.  He 
rode  with  a  troop  from  Ramoth-in-Gilead,  where  he 
was  one  of  the  commanders  against  Hazael  of  Syria, 
to  Jezreel,  whither  Joram  had  retired  to  be  healed 
of  wounds  received  in  the  war.  Joram,  surprised 
by  his  sudden  approach,  went  out  in  his  chariot  to 
meet  him.  They  met  in  Naboth's  field  -  portion. 
Joram  exclaimed,  '  Is  peace  with  thee,  Jehu  % ' 
Jehu  answered,  '  What  peace,  with  the  whoredom 
of  Jezebel,  thy  mother,  and  her  many  sorceries?' 
Joram  cried,  '  Treachery  ! '  and  turned  to  flee,  but 
it  was  too  late :  he  was  pierced  by  an  arrow  from 
Jehu's  own  bow.  The  dead  body  was  cast  down 
upon  the  field,  the  regicide  three  times  sententiously 
alluding  to  that  fatal  'portion.'15  He  now  entered 
Jezreel.  When  the  news  reached  the  old  queen, 
Jezebel,  she  painted  her  eyelids,  tired  her  head,  and, 
looking  out  at  the  window,  cried  out  to  Jehu,  as  he 
entered,  '  Hail,  thou  Zimri, ,6  murderer  of  his  mas- 
ter ! '  At  his  order,  she  was  thrown  down ;  her 
blood  bespattered  the  wall  and  the  horses,  and  she 
was  trampled  upon.  And  the  dogs  devoured  her 
flesh  in  the  field-portion  of  Jezreel.17 

15  See  his  words  in  the  Hebrew  text. 

16  Zimri,  like  Jehu,  obtained  the  throne  by  assassinating  his  king, 
whose  general  he  was. 

17 II.  Kine;s  ix. 


20  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

We  are  not  told  what  became  of  the  prophet 
Micaiah,  who,  alone,  so  boldly  opposed  the  wish  and 
clamor,  and  so  calmly  braved  the  fury,  of  so  many 
around  him  \  Did  he,  in  his  prison,  live  to  see  the 
day  when  '  the  peoples  all '  saw  that  he  alone  had 
spoken  the  truth  %  Did  he  live  to  see  the  downfall 
of  the  house  of  Omri?  Have  any  of  his  written 
prophecies  been  preserved,  if  he  ever  wrote  any? 
There  are  indications  apt  to  lead  to  affirmative 
answers  to  these  questions. 

Critical  expounders  have  found  many  striking 
points  of  contact  between  the  narratives  of  I.  Kings 
abridged  above  and  the  book  of  Micah  :  The  names 
of  the  prophet  who  warned  Ahab  and  of  the  pro- 
phet whose  written  denunciations  of  Samaria  and 
Jerusalem  we  possess  are  identical,  though  slightly 
varied  in  the  termination.18  The  last  words  of 
Micaiah,  the  son  of  Imlah,  are  :  '  Hear,  ye  peoples 
all!' — the  book  of  Micah  opens  with  these  very 
words.19  The  son  of  Imlah  addressed  the  son  of 
Omri:  the  book  of  Micah  is  the  only  prophetical 
writing  which  mentions  Omri  and  Ahab.30  The  son 
of  Imlah  contends   alone   against  a  host  of   false 

18  The  Ephraimite  to  whose  history  the  seventeenth  chapter  of 
Judges  is  devoted  is,  in  verses  1  and  4,  called  Micaiah  (in  the  Hebrew 
text ;  in  the  fullest  form,  Mlkhay'hu)  and  in  the  rest  of  the  narrative 
Micah.  In  the  k'thib  form  of  Jer.  xxvi.  18  Micah  of  Moresheth  is 
also  called  Micaiah. 

19  Without  the  least  alteration,  in  the  original. 
80  vi.  16. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  21 

prophets,  who  predict  success  to  their  king:  the 
third  chapter  of  Micah21  announces  woe  to  the 
prophets  who  seduce  the  people  and  cry,  'Peace,' 
while  they  prepare  war  against  him  who  does  not 
satisfy  them.  The  son  of  Imlah  told  Ahab  how  he 
was  deceived  by  a  spirit  of  falsehood  {rua'h  sheqer) : 
in  Micah22  the  false  prophets  are  stigmatized  as 
going  after  wind  and  falsehood  {rita'h  vdsheqer). 
The  son  of  Imlah  was  struck  on  the  cheek  by  Zede- 
kiah :  in  Micah23  we  read,  k  With  a  rod  they  strike 
on  the  cheek  the  guide  of  Israel.'  Zedekiah  had 
made  himself  iron  horns :  in  Micah24  we  read,  '  I 
make  thy  horn  iron.'  Even  an  exceptional  verbal 
form  has  been  noticed  which  occurs  only  in  the 
narrative  of  Ahab  and  Naboth  and  in  Micah.25 
These  coincidences  are  not  accidental.  But  whence 
do  they  spring  % 

This  question  can  be  answered  in  various  ways : 
Micah  of  Moresheth,  the  contemporary  of  Isaiah, 
had  the  history  of  Ahab  as  given  in  Kings  before 
him,  and,  attracted  by  the  account  concerning  his 
earlier  namesake,  made  distinct  allusions  to  men 
and  things  of  that  remote  time :  this  is  the  view  of 
Hitzig,  among  others.     Or,  Micah  of  Moresheth  con- 

21  5-8. 

22  ii.  11. 

23  iv.  14  (v.  1). 

24  iv.  13. 

26  vjk  for  J02X,  I.  Kings  xxi.  29  and  Mic.  i.  15.     (See  note  C,  at 
the  end  of  the  volume.) 


22  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

sidered  and  presented  himself  as  the  continuator  of 
the  activity  of  his  namesake  :  so  thinks  Keil.  Or — 
if  we  go  a  step  further — he  possessed  fragments  of 
the  addresses  of  the  son  of  Imlah,  and  applied 
them,  perhaps  with  alterations,  to  affairs  of  his  own 
time  :  this  view  finds  support  in  his  embodying  in 
his  prophecies26  a  string  of  sentences  elsewhere" 
distinctly  credited  to  Isaiah,  which  either  he  bor- 
rowed from  that  great  contemporary,  or  both  equally 
from  an  earlier  prophet — for  Isaiah  can  hardly  be 
presumed  to  have  repeated  the  utterances  of  a  man 
of  his  time.  A  fourth  supposition,  namely,  that 
writings  and  fragments  of  writings  belonging  to  the 
two  Micaiahs,  or  Micahs,  have  been  mixed  up  by 
the  collectors  of  the  Scriptures,  requires  too  many 
violations  of  the  text  as  it  stands  to  be  critically 
established.  In  any  case,  however,  we  have  in  the 
book  of  Micah  clear  references  to  conditions  which 
existed,  or  greatly  resembled  those  which  existed, 
in  the  times  of  Ahab  and  the  son  of  Imlah. 

On  the  supposition  that  Micah  of  Moresheth  in- 
corporated or  worked  up  in  his  book  pieces  belong- 
ing to  the  son  of  Imlah,  the  latter  could  thus  be 
reconstructed  as  a  distinct  prophet  out  of  fragments 
of  that  little  work : 

The  wickedness  of  the  powerful  men  in  Samaria 
and  Jezreel,  the  oppressors  of  the  people,  elicits 
from  him  this  bitter  rebuke : 

26  Mic.  iv.  1-3. 
21  Is.  ii.2^1. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  11  HI  SHEWS.  23 

(Micah  III.  1-4.) 

0  hear,  ye  heads  of  'Jacob, 

rulers  of  the  house  of  Israel : 

is  it  not  for  you  to  know  the  right  ? 

0  ye  haters  of  the  good,  and  lovers  of  evil, 

who  rob  men29  of  their  skin, 

and  tear  the  flesh  from  their  bones  ; 

who  eat  my  people's  flesh, 

and  strip  the  skin  from  them, 

and  break  their  bones  ; 

and  chop  all  as  for  a  pot,29 

as  meat  for  a  caldron  ! — 

Once  they  will  cry  to  Jehovah, 

and  he  will  not  answer, 

but  hide  his  face  from  them  at  that  time, 

in  response  to  their  evil  doings. 

In  the  following  we  have  before  us  Ahab  coveting 
the  vineyard  of  Naboth,  brooding  in  his  bed,  and 
murdering  and  taking  possession : 

(II.  1-3.) 

Woe  to  them  who  devise  iniquity, 
and  frame  evil,  on  their  beds, 
and  do  it  when  the  morning  dawns — 
for  it  is  in  the  power  of  their  hand  ! 

28  men]  Literally,  them,  that  is,  the  people  of  Israel,  as  generally 
explained. 

29  as  for  a  pof]  Literally,  as  what  is  ("it^NT)  in  ^e  Pot >  "H#frO> 
however,  as  the  Septuagint  and  the  Syriac  version  indicate,  may  be 
a  corruption  of  "HS'ty'S,  as  flesh.     See  the  context  in  the  original. 


24  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

They  covet  fields,  and  seize  them  ; 
and  houses,  and  take  them  ; 
oppress  the  man  and  his  house, 
the  man  and  his  heritage. 

Therefore,  thus  says  Jehovah : 
'  Behold,  I  devise  evil  against  this  race, 
from  which  ye  shall  not  withdraw  your  necks  ; 
nor  walk  ye  haughtily, 
for  it  is  an  evil  time.' 

The  phrase  rendered  nor  icalk  ye  haughtily  in- 
cludes the  word  rdmdh,  occurring  nowhere  else,  and 
understood  to  mean  on  high  or  in  haughtiness ; 
and  may  thus  contain  an  allusion  to  the  march  on 
Ramoth  {7ieights).2° — The  rebuke  is  continued  thus : 

(11.4,5.) 
In  that  day 

men  take  up  a  taunt  against  you, 
and  wail  a  wail  of  woe, 
saying,  '  we  are  wasted,  wasted  ! 
my  people's  portion  he  gives  away  ! 
how  he  withdraws  it  from  me  ! 31 
to  the  faithless  he  portions  out  our  fields  ! ' 
Thus  thou  shalt  have  none 
to  cast  a  cord  of  division 
in  Jehovah's  community. 

30  TV&Pi  13/H  vb")  beinS  almost  the  equivalent  of  mQ"\  "hvT)  N^V 
Ramoth  was  also  called  Ramah  in  the  singular;  see  II.  Kings  viii. 
29,  and  Josh.  xiii.  26. 

si  W ij2«i,  he  withdraws,  stands  perhaps,  by  mistake,  for  ip^/-  the 

preceding  -po-»,  and  'b  "HW  "lEi"!*  Ruth  i.  20),  in  which  case  the 
translation  of  the  line  would  be :  how  he  afflicts  me  ! 


OF  TBE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  25 

Here  we  are  forcibly  reminded  of  the  'portion' 
so  many  times  spoken  of  in  the  account  of  Ahab's 
outrage  and  its  fatal  consequence,  the  extirpation 
of  his  race  from  Jehovah's  community.  It  is,  how- 
ever, hard  to  determine  whether  the  wail  is  over 
the  tyrant's  wasting,  robbing,  and  portioning  out 
to  godless  accomplices  the  substance  of  the  people, 
or  over  Jehovah's  retaliation  for  such  crimes,  which 
surrenders  his  people's  heritage  to  the  plundering 
heathen. 

The  true  prophet  warns  Israel  and  its  rulers,  but 
he  is  insulted  and  condemned  to  silence  by  the  false 
preachers  and  their  followers  : 

(II.  6-8.) 

'  Preach  not, '  they  preach  ; 

'  they  shall  not  preach  to  these — 

lest  they  reach32  disgrace.' 

Thou  who  art  called  house  of  Jacob, 
is  Jehovah  impatient  ? 
are  his  doings  such  ? 
'  Will  my  words  do  no  good 
to  him  who  walks  uprightly  ? 

'  Yet  yesterday 
my  people  rose  as  a  foe  ; 33 

32  reach]  After  Rashi,  Aben  Ezra,  and  Kimhi.  Cf.  Pro  v.  ix.  7: 
'  He  who  reproves  a  scorner  gets  shame. ' 

33  yesterday— foe]  According  to  the  Masoretic  text,  which  is  hardly 
correct.  Arnheim  (in  Zunz's  Bible)  renders,  the  defender  my  people 
sets  up  as  a  foe,  reading  instead  of  ethmul,  yesterday,  eth  mul,  and 
apparently  taking  mid  to  designate  him  who  is  CTI^Nn  ?1E  CJ?7 


26  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

from  the  robeless 
ye  tear  off  the  mantle  ; 34 
from  tranquil  passers-by, 
men  averse  from  war.' 

The  homeless  widows  and  orphans  of  the  mup 
dered  and  dispossessed  are  thus  remembered  : 

(II.  9,10.) 

"The  women  of  my  people  ye  expel 
from  the  houses  of  their  delight ; 
from  their  infants 
ye  take  my  ornaments,  for  ever.' 

Rise,  and  go  ; 
for  this  is  no  resting-place — 
because  of  defilement, 
which  destroys,  with  terrible  destruction. 

The  prophets  to  whom  the  people  would  listen 
are  men  of  a  different  stamp : 

(II.  11.) 

If  a  man  who  walks  after  wind  and  falsehood 
should  lyingly  say, 

'  I  will  preach  to  thee  of  wine  and  mead,' 
he  would  be  this  people's  preacher. 

(Ex.  xviii.  19),  perhaps  as  ad  lotus  has  become  an  adlatus.  In  the 
following  mul  salmali  ^i£  is  a  participle  as  in  Jer.  ix.  24  and  Josh, 
v.  5;  the  meaning  is :  cut  (shorn)  of  robe,  robeless. 

34  mantle]  Heb.  eder,  the  same  as  the  addereth  of  the  prophets 
(I.  Kings  xix.  13,  19;  II.  Kings  ii.  8,  13,  14;  Zech.  xiii.  4).  They 
probably  wore  no  robe  under  it. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  27 

But   false   prophets   like    Zedekiah   are   doomed 
eventually  to  hide  themselves  in  shame: 

(III.  5-8.) 

Thus  says  Jehovah  concerning  the  prophets 

'  who  lead  my  people  astray, 

who,  when  biting  with  their  teeth,  cry,  "Peace  !" 

and  when  one  puts  nothing  on  their  mouth, 

prepare  war  against  him  : 

Therefore,  night  upon  you  ! — not  to  see  visions  ; 

darkness  upon  you  ! — not  to  divine  ; 

the  sun  shall  go  down  over  the  prophets, 

and  the  day  be  black  over  them  ; 

the  seers  shall  be  ashamed, 

the  diviners  shall  blush, 

and  all  cover  their  lips — 

for  there  is  no  answer  of  God.' 

But  1,  I  am  full  of  strength — 
by  the  spirit  of  Jehovah — 
and  of  judgment  and  courage, 
to  declare  to  Jacob  his  transgression, 
to  Israel  his  sin. 

And  the  man  of  courage  is  rudely  tried : 

(IV.  14  [V.  1].) 

"With  a  rod  they  strike  on  the  cheek 
the  guide  of  Israel. 

But  his  supporter  is  on  high ;   him  he  calls  to 
witness  to  the  truth  of  his  words  : 


28  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

(I-  2.) 

Hear,  ye  peoples  all  ; 

listen,  0  earth,  and  all  that  is  therein  ; 

and  let  the  Lord  Jehovah  be  witness  against  you, 

the  Lord  from  his  holy  temple.35 

Persecuted,  imprisoned,  in  darkness  and  solitude, 
the  preacher  of    righteousness    mourns    over    the 
perverseness  of  his  time  and  his  own  fate,  but  waits 
with  resignation  for  the  day  which  is  to  justify  and 
avenge  him : 

(VII.) 

(1)  Woe  is  me  ! 

for  I  am  as  in  the  gathering  of  summer-fruit, 

as  in  the  gleaning  of  the  vintage  : 

there  is  not  a  cluster  to  eat ; 

not  an  early  fig,  which  I  long  for. 

The  last  good  man  is  gone  from  the  earth, 

no  upright  mortal  exists  ; 

all  lie  in  wait  for  blood, 

brother  hunts  brother  with  a  net. 

The  evil-doer  has  but  hands  to  soften ; 3" 

36  This  verse  is,  in  meaning,  unconnected  with  the  rest  of  the  chap- 
ter.    The  preceding  quotation  is  an  equally  unconnected  fragment. 

36  to  soften]  Literally,  to  make  good  or  pleasant.  He  disarms  the 
hands  of  justice  by  bribes.  Cf.  Is.  xxxiii.  15:  'who  shakes  his 
hands  from  grasping  bribes,'  and  Ps.  xxvi.  10:  'their  right  hand 
is  full  of   bribes;'  and  compare  ^t^n^     •     •     •     JHH  *}]}  with 

nr6  "by)  on- Sam- xvin-  n). and  zrtrr6  crD3  with  csd  2">to"» 

(Prov.  xv.  13). 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  29 

the  governor  asks, 

the  judge  judges  for  reward, 

and  the  great  man  speaks  out  his  soul's  lust — 

and  they  twist  the  thing  together. 

The  best  of  them  is  like  a  brier, 

the  most  upright  sharper  than  a  thorn-hedge. 

The  day  of  thy  watchmen,37 
of  thy  visitation,  is  coming  ; 
men's  confusion  approaches. 
(5)      Trust  ye  not  in  a  friend, 

confide  not  in  the  most  intimate  ; 

from  her  who  rests  on  thy  bosom 

keep  the  doors  of  thy  mouth. 

For  the  son  is  vile  toward  his  father, 

the  daughter  rises  against  her  mother, 

the  daughter-in-law  against  her  mother-in-law  ; 

a  man's  enemies  are  the  men  of  his  own  house. 

But  7, 1  look  to  Jehovah, 
I  wait  for  the  God  of  my  salvation  ; 
my  God  will  hear  me. 

Rejoice  not  over  me,  0  woman  that  hatest  me  :" 
if  I  am  fallen,  I  rise  again  ; 
if  I  sit  in  darkness, 
Jehovah  is  light  to  me. 

Jehovah's  wrath  I  will  bear, 
for  I  have  sinned  against  him — 
until  he  pleads  my  cause, 
and  secures  my  right ; 

81  The  day  predicted  by  prophets. 

38  woman  that  hatest  ine]    Heb.  dyabtl  =  inimica  mea  (Vulgate), 
meine  Feindin.     In  the  Authorized  Version  the  gender  is  lost. 


30  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 


he  will  bring  me  forth  to  light, 
I  shall  behold  his  victory.39 
(10)  She  who  hates  me  will  see  it, 
and  be  covered  with  shame  ; 
she  who  says  to  me, 
'  Where  is  he — Jehovah,  thy  God  ? ' 
My  eyes  will  gaze  at  her  ; 
now  she  will  be  trampled  upon 
as  mire  in  the  streets. 

The  female  enemy  here  addressed  and  spoken  of 
is  generally  explained  to  be  a  personified,  though 
unmentioned,  hostile  power — Assyria — and  the  ulti- 
mately triumphant  sufferer  to  represent  Zion  ;40  but, 
on  the  supposition  that  the  sufferer  sitting  in  dark- 
ness is  the  son  of  Imlah  in  prison,  the  enemy  is  none 
other  but  Jezebel  herself,  the  deadly  foe  of  the 
prophets  of  Jehovah,  and  the  last  lines  may  be  con- 
sidered an  addition  to  the  meditation — if  the  whole 
is  not  a  retrospect — made  when  the  corpse  of  the 
proud  queen  had  actually  been  trampled  upon  in 
the  streets  of  Jezreel. 

But  if  the  victim  of  Jezebel's  persecution  lived  to 
see  her  downfall  and  the  havoc  which  the  sword  of 
Jehu  made  among  the  followers  of  Baal,  he  soon  dis- 
covered that  the  regulations  of  Omri  and  the  prac- 
tices of  the  house  of  Ahab  survived  the  revolution, 

39  his  victory]    See  vol.  i.,  note  Gt. 

40  Starting  from  this  view,  the  Masorites,  by  their  vowel-points, 
gave  a  feminine  termination  to  "pnTWi  thy  God. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  31 

and  that  Samaria  and  Jezreel  continued  to  be  as 
deserving  of  chastisement  as  ever : 


(VI.) 

(9)  Jehovah's  voice  calls  to  the  city — 

and  wisdom  minds  thy  name. 

Hear  ye  the  rod, 

hear  who  appoints  it. 
(10)  Are  there  yet  in  the  house  of  the  wicked 

treasures  of  wickedness, 

and  the  lean,  accursed  bushel  ? 

Can  I41  be  pure  with  wicked  scales  ? 

with  a  bag  of  deceitful  weights  ? 

Her  rich  men  are  gorged  with  plunder, 

her  denizens  speak  falsehood  ; 

their  tongue  in  their  mouth  is  deceit. 

*  Therefore  I  make  thee  sick  with  my  blows, 

desolating  thee  for  thy  sins. 

Thou  eatest,  and  art  not  satisfied, 

thy  emptiness  remaining  in  thee ; 

thou  snatchest,  but  savest  not, 

and  what  thou  savest  I  give  to  the  sword  ; 
(15)  thou  sowest,  but  reapest  not ; 

thou  treadest  olives,  but  hast  no  oil  for  ointment ; 

treadest  grapes,  but  drinkest  no  wine. 

Omri's  statutes  are  kept, 

and  all  the  practices  of  Ahab's  house, 

and  after  their  counsels  ye  walk. 

41  Can  I    .     .     .     .?]     Can  I?  can  anyone? 


32  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

Lo,I  make  thee42  a  desolation, 
and  her  inhabitants  a  hissing, 
and  ye  bear  my  people's43  reproach.' 

There  are  a  few  more  lines  which,  on  the  basis  of 
the  same  hypothesis,  might  be  regarded  as  belonging 
to  the  son  of  Imlah,  and  as  referring  to  that  better 
time  of  Ahab's  reign,  previous  to  the  murder  of 
Naboth,  when  prophets  of  Jehovah  still  approached 
the  king  with  true  predictions  of  victory.  In  the 
following  we  have,  perhaps,  a  reference  to  Ben- 
Hadad's  siege  of  Samaria : 

(IV.  14  [V.  1].) 

Now  band  thyself  in  bands, 
0  daughter  of  bands — 
he  lays  siege  upon  us. 

The  c  daughter  of  bands,' — batli  g'dud — is  a  fitting 
term  for  Ben-Hadad's  kingdom,  Syria,  of  whose 
raiding  bands — g'dad'im — we  repeatedly  read  in  the 
accounts  of  the  time ; "  and  the  term  may  even 
allude,  both  in  meaning  and  sound,  to  the  name  of 
that  Syrian  king,  'the  son  of  Hadad.'     This  little 


48  t?vee\  So  according  to  the  Masoretic  text,  but  ~\r\#,  thee,  stands 
evidently,  by  mistake,  for  "j^S%,  thy  land,  to  which  the  following 
'her'  refers;  'the  land,'  'a  desolation,'  and  'her  inhabitants'  are 
exactly  so  connected  in  verse  13  of  the  following  chapter. 

43  my  people 's\  Heb.  'ammi  ;  Graetz  ('  Geschichte  der  Juden,'  vol. 
i.  part  i.  p.  156)  converts  this  into  'ammim,  the  peoples  \  Cf.  Neh. 
v.  9,  and  Ezek.  xxxvi.  15. 

44 II.  Kings  v.  2,  vi.  23, 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  33 

fragment  is  unconnected  in  the  text,  though  joined 
in  one  verse  to  an  equally  small  fragment,  already 
quoted.  Equally  unconnected  are  the  following 
lines,  which  describe,  perhaps,  the  successful  sortie 
against  Ben-Hadad's  camp,  at  the  time  when  'all 
the  people,'  the  remnant  of  Israel,  mustered  by 
Ahab,  must  have  been,  compared  with  the  hosts  of 
the  Syrians,  like  'little  flocks  of  kids,1  as  in  the 
succeeding  year : 

(II.  12, 13.) 

'  I  do  collect,  0  Jacob,  all  of  thee  ; 
I  gather  together  the  remnant  of  Israel ; 
I  put  them  together  as  sheep  in  a  fold  ; 
like  a  flock's,  in  the  midst  of  its  pasture, 
is  the  hum  of  men.' 

The  breaker-through  marches  before  them, 
they  break  through  and  pass — 
through  the  gate,  and  out  by  it ; 
the  king  passes  before  them, 
Jehovah  at  their  head. 


34  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 


XXIV. 

The  hostility  between  the  Israelites  and  Damas- 
cene Syria  was  of  old  standing.  When  David 
warred  with  Hadadezer,  king  of  Zobah  in  the  Eu- 
phrates regions,  the  Syrians  of  Damascus  came  to 
succor  the  latter,  but  were  totally  vanquished,  and 
subjected  to  the  Hebrew  kingdom.  Subsequently, 
however,  a  leader  of  a  band,  Rezon,  made  himself 
master  of  Damascus,  reigned  as  king,  and  was  an 
adversary  to  Israel  all  the  days  of  Solomon.  One  of 
his  successors,  Ben-Hadad  I. — in  Biblical  order — 
was  bribed  by  Asa,  king  of  Judah,  to  break  his 
peace  with  Baasha  of  Israel,  and  made  a  powerful 
invasion  into  the  northern  territories  of  the  ten 
tribes.  Ben-Hadad  II.  fought  against  Ahab.  He 
also  made  war  on  Joram,  Ahab's  son,  and  again 
vainly  besieged  Samaria.  His  murderer  and  suc- 
cessor, Hazael,  not  only  successfully  resisted  an 
alliance  of  Joram  with  Ahaziah  of  Judah,  but,  con- 
tinuing his  hostilities  against  the  successors  of  both 
Hebrew  kings,  conquered  all  Transjordanic  Pales- 
tine from  Jehu,  threatened  Jerusalem  and  extorted 
a  heavy  ransom  from  Ahaziah' s  son  Joash,  and 
brought  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes,  under  Je- 
hoahaz,  the  son  of  Jehu,  to  the  very  verge  of  de- 
struction. Joash,  the  son  of  Jehoahaz,  however, 
three  times  defeated  Hazaers  son  Ben-Hadad  III., 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  35 

and  recovered  a  portion  of  the  Israelitish  territory, 
and  his  son  Jeroboam  II.  reconquered  the  rest,  tri- 
umphantly extending  his  power  to  the  north  and 
east.  Some  of  these  wars  and  invasions  were  carried 
on  with  utmost  fierceness.1 

Equally  fierce  were,  during  the  same  centuries, 
the  contests  between  the  Israelites  and  the  Ammon- 
ites, Moabites,  and  Edomites.  David  terribly  chas- 
tised Rabbah  and  the  other  cities  of  Amnion  for  an 
offense  of  their  king  Hanun,  but  the  country  seems 
not  to  have  been  held  in  subjection  for  any  length  of 
time.  After  the  division  of  the  Hebrew  kingdom  the 
Ammonites  made  inroads  into  the  territories  both 
of  Judah  and  Israel.2  Moab  was  almost  annihilated 
by  David,  and  in  later  times  paid  an  enormous 
tribute  to  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes  ;  but  on  the 
death  of  Ahab  it  revolted  under  King  Mesha,  and 
desperately  defended  itself  against  Joram  and  his 
ally,  the  king  of  Judah.  In  the  time  of  Joash,  the 
son  of  Jehoahaz,  the  Moabites  made  yearly  incur- 
sions into  Israelitish  territory.3  Against  Edom,  too, 
David  carried  on  a  war  of  extermination.  He  com- 
pletely subdued  it,  and  though  Hadad,  an  Edomite 
prince  who  escaped  to  Egypt,  raised  a  revolt  on  the 
death  of  the  conqueror,  which  annoyed  Solomon,  the 

1  II.  Sam.  viii.  5,  6 ;  I.  Kings  xi.  23-25,  xv.  19,  20,  xx.,  xxii. ;  II. 
Kings  vi.  24-vii.  7,  viii.  25-29,  x.  32,  33,  xii.  18, 19  (17,  18),  xiii.  3-7, 
22-25,  xiv.  23-29. 

2 II.  Sam.  x.,  xii.  26-31,  II.  Chr.  xx.  1,  Am.  i.  13. 

3 II.  Sam.  viii.  2,  II.  Kings  iii.,  xiii.  20. 


36  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

Judseans  remained  masters  in  Seir,  holding  it  in  sub- 
jection or  vassalage  till  the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat'  s 
son  Jehoram,  when  the  foreign  yoke  was  broken, 
and  an  independent  native  throne  established.  But 
some  sixty  years  later  Amaziah  began  the  recon- 
quest  of  Edom,  and  his  son  Uzziah  continued  it.4 

Amaziah' s  exploit  is  thus  told  in  the  second  book 
of  Kings :  '  He  defeated  the  Edomites  in  the  Salt 
Valley,  slaying  ten  thousand,  and  reduced  Sela  [that 
is,  Petra]  by  fighting.'  Not  satisfied  with  this  vic- 
tory and  capture  achieved  by  the  king  of  Judah. 
the  author  of  Chronicles  makes,  in  his  version,  a 
characteristic  application  of  the  meaning  of  the 
name  Sela  {rock ;  with  the  definite  article,  as  in  the 
narrative  of  Kings,  the  rock).5  He  relates:6  'And 
Amaziah,  mustering  strength,  led  his  people,  and 
marched  to  the  Salt  Valley,  and  defeated  the  chil- 
dren of  Seir,  slaying  ten  thousand.  Other  ten 
thousand  the  children  of  Judah  captured  alive,  and 
took  them  to  the  top  of  the  rock,  and  dashed  them 
down  from  the  top  of  the  rock,  so  that  all  were 
broken  in  pieces/  Thus  the  glory  of  dashing  to 
pieces  ten  thousand  Edomite  captives  is  substituted 

4 II.  Sam.  viii.  13,  14 ;  I.  Kings  xi.  14-22,  xxii.  48  (47);  II.  Kings 
viii.  20-22,  xiv.  7,  22. 

5  This  is  also  the  meaning,  both  in  Greek  and  Latin,  of  Petra,  the 
classical  name  of  the  Idumaean  stronghold.  According  to  Wetzstein 
(in  a  dissertation  supplementary  to  Delitzsch's  '  Commentary  on 
Isaiah,' third  edition)  the  name  was  originally  the  Bozrah  of  the  Sela, 
signifying  the  fortress  of  the  cleft  in  the  rocks. 

6  II.  Chr.  xxv.  11. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  37 

for  the  capture  of  a  rock  fastness  and  capital  deemed 
impregnable,  probably  the  grandest  feat  in  the  mili- 
tary history  of  the  Hebrews.  The  same  author1 
makes  David  take  out  the  inhabitants  of  all  the 
towns  of  Amnion  and  saw  them  with  saws  or  destroy 
them  with  other  iron  implements  ;  while  the  cor- 
responding statement  in  the  second  book  of  Samuel8 
— unless  violently  twisted,  as  it  commonly  is,  after 
Chronicles— indicates  an  incomparably  milder  treat- 
ment of  the  conquered  populations.9  David  may 
charitably  be  presumed  to  be  as  guiltless  of  the 
monstrous  atrocity  attributed  to  him,  even  if  it  be 
attributed  to  him  by  both  historians,  as  Amaziah 
probably  was  of  the  spectacular  execution  of  the  ten 
thousand  at  Petra ;  and  it  is  quite  a  superfluous 
labor  —  though  often    undertaken  —  to  search  for 

1  I.  Chr.  xx.  3. 

8  xii.  31. 

9  The  words  in  the  two  texts  are  obscure,  but  unless  the  Chroni- 
cler's vayydsar,  and  sawed,  is  substituted  for  xayydsem,  and  placed, 
in  Samuel,  the  meaning  of  the  older  text  can  be  no  other  than  that 
David  carried  off  the  Ammonites  and  made  them  work  in  his  saw 
mills,  iron  mines,  and  brick-kilns,  or  in  similar  establishments.  (See, 
among  others,  Graetz,  'Geschichte  der  Juden, 'vol.  i.  p.  256.)  But 
the  mere  change  of  the  word  does  not  make  the  commonly  adopted 
rendering  acceptable,  for  the  verb  '  sawed  '  is  applicable  only  to  the 
first  of  the  murderous  instruments  believed  to  be  mentioned,  unless 
saws  and  iron  saws  are  separately  spoken  of  ;  nor  is  it  clear  why  the 
Ammonites  had  to  be  taken  out  of  their  cities,  or  why  they  had  to 
be  carried  through  brick-kilns  in  order  to  be  burned.  (Graetz 
strengthens  his  rendering  by  substituting  ""DJ/'ni*  and  made  [them] 
work,  for  ""p^yi"^  and  made  [them]  pass.) 


38  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

benevolent  reasons  which  might  have  induced  the 
model  king  to  commit  his  people- sa wings.  If  it 
was  his  object,  as  some  suggest,  to  teach  the  Am- 
monites, by  impressive  examples,  what  they  ought 
not  to  practise,  lessons  on  a  smaller  scale,  applied  to 
the  leaders  instead  of  to  whole  populations,  would 
have  sufficed.  For  many  a  deed  which  makes  the 
readers  of  history  shudder  the  narrator  alone  is 
responsible. 

The  wars  between  the  Hebrews  and  the  Philistines 
are  entirely  free  from  such  revolting  features,  and 
in  some  instances  they  even  present  traits  of  con- 
tention in  a  chivalrous  spirit.  David  repeatedly 
vanquished  the  Philistines,  but  did  not  subdue 
them.1"  Solomon's  empire  extended  from  the  Eu- 
phrates '  to  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  and  to  the 
border  of  Egypt,"1  but  it  included  neither  of  these 
countries.  During  his  reign  we  find  a  king  of 
Gath,1"  while  neither  the  conquest  nor  the  revolt  of 
any  other  Philistine  city  is  related  in  the  history  of 
those  times. 13    And  shortly  after  the  division  of  the 

10 II.  Sam.  v.  17-25,  viii.l,  xxi.  15-22.  II.  Sam.  viii.  1.  as  its  conclud- 
ing part  shows,  states  a  decisive  victory  over  them,  but  not  their 
subjection. 

11  I.  Kings  v.  1  (iv.  21). 

12 1.  Kings  ii.  39. 

13  Gath,  however,  is  stated  in  I.  Chronicles  (xviii.  1)  to  have  been 
taken  by  David ;  but  the  statement  is  totally  invalidated  by  the  cor- 
responding sentence  in  II.  Samuel  (viii.  1).  Equally  inauthentic  is 
probably  the  mention  of  Gath,  in  II.  Chronicles  (xi.  8),  among  the 
cities  fortified  bj'  Rehoboam,  after  which  it  next  appears  in  the  same 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  39 

Hebrew  kingdom,  we  see  the  Philistines  holding  a 
fortified  town,  Gibbethon,  in  the  territory  of  the  ten 
tribes,  and  defending  it  against  Nadab  and  his 
successors.14  Weakened  by  the  sword  of  David, 
and  probably  harassed  by  the  Egyptian  navy,  the 
Philistines  no  longer  thought  of  renewing  their 
supremacy  over  the  interior  of  Palestine,  and  the 
Hebrews,  divided  among  themselves,  made  no  vigor- 
ous effort  to  conquer  the  Philistine  coastland.  This 
state  of  affairs,  however,  would  not  prevent  occa- 
sional border  warfare  and  predatory  incursions. 
Between  the  cities  of  the  Phoenician  coastland  — 
Sidon,  Tyre,  Aradus,  Byblus  —  and  the  Hebrew 
states  peace  and  commercial  intercourse  were  per- 
manent. 

Of  the  contests  between  Mesha,  king  of  Moab, 
and  his  Hebrew  neighbors  there  is  an  account  by 
himself,  in  an  inscription  on  a  monumental  stone 
discovered  at  Diban15  in  1868,  and  deciphered  from 
impressions  —  for  the  stone  was  broken  before  it 
could  be  acquired — by  a  number  of  investigators, 
French,  German,  and  English.  The  inscription 
was  apparently  engraved  shortly  after  the  Moab- 
ite  king  had  shaken  off  the  yoke  of  the  kingdom 
of  Israel,  on  Ahab's  fall  at  Ramoth.  The  deci- 
pherment is  incomplete,  as  the  impressions  were, 

book  (xxvi.  6)  as  a  city  warred  against  and  conquered  by  another 
king  of  Judah,  and  in  Amos  (vi.  2)  as  a  city  of  the  Philistines. 


14 1.  Kings  xv.  27,  xvi.  15. 

15  The  Scriptural  Dibon;  see  vol.  i.  p.  75. 


40  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

and  in  many  points  conjectural  and  doubtful. 
The  following  sentences  and  parts  of  sentences  are 
the  principal  ones  on  which  three,  at  least,  out  of 
four  of  the  ablest  expounders — Schlottmann,  Nol- 
deke,  Kaempf,  and  M.  A.  Levy — are  fully  in  ac- 
cord:16 

'  I,  Mesha,  son  of  ....  king  of  Moab,  the  Dibonite: 
My  father  reigned  over  Moab  thirty  years,  and  I  reigned 
after  my  father.  And  I  have  made  this  high-place  to 
Chemosh,17     .     .     .     for  he  saved  me  from  all.     .     .     . 

'  Omri,  king  of  Israel,  oppressed  Moab  many  days,  for 
Chemosh  was  wroth  against  his  land.  His  son  succeeded 
him,  and  he,  too,  said,  "  I  will  oppress  Moab."  .  .  . 
But  I  had  my  sight  in  him  and  his  house,  and  Israel 
perishes  for  ever. 

'Omri  conquered  .  .  .  Medeba,18  and  dwelt  in 
it,  he   and   his   son,   forty  years.       But   Che- 

mosh    ...     in  my  days. 

'I  built  up  Baal-Meon,19     .     .     .     and     .     .     .     Kir- 

16  Of  other  writers  on  the  subject  may  be  mentioned:  Clermont- 
Ganneau— of  the  French  consulate  at  Jerusalem,  who  procured  the 
impressions,  the  stone  having  been  discovered  by  the  missionary 
Klein — the  Count  de  Vogue,  Capt.  Warren,  Derenbourg,  A.  Geiger, 
G.  Rawlinson,  Neubauer,  Oppert,  Renan,  Schrader,  Hitzig,  Gins- 
burg,  Harkavy,  and  Graetz.  The  genuineness  of  the  inscription  is 
all  but  universally  conceded. 

17  Chemosh]    The  god;  see  vol.  i.  p.  74. 

18  See  vol.  i.  p.  75. 

19  Baal-Meon]  Or  Beth-Meon,  fully  Beth  Baal-Meon,  a  town  near 
Medeba,  vast  ruins  of  which  are  at  Main,  on  a  height  north  of  the 
Wady  Zerka  Main.     (See  Tristram.  '  Tlic-  Land  of  Moab,'  eh.  xvi.) 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  41 

jatliaim.20  The  men  of  (J ad  (lived)  in  the  district  .  .  . 
from  the  days  of  old.  .  .  .  And  I  fought  against 
.  and  captured  it,  and   slew  all  ,  a  de- 

lightful sight  to  Chemosh  and  Moab. 

'Chemosh  said  to  me,  "Go,  and  take  Nebo1"  from 
Israel."  I  went  in  the  night,  and  fought  against  it  from 
dawn  to  mid-day,  and  captured  it,  and  slew  all,  seven 
thousand ;  .  .  .  for  it  was  doomed  to  Ashtor-Che- 
mosh.22  .  .  .  And  I  took  from  there  the  vessels  of 
Jehovah,  and  laid  them  before  Chemosh. 

'And  the  king  of  Israel  built  up  Jahaz,23  and  dwelt  in  it, 
while  warring  against  me  ;  but  Chemosh  drove  him  out 
before  me.  I  took  from  Moab  two  hundred  men,  all  chiefs, 
and  led  them  against  Jahaz,  and  captured  it,  in  addition  to 
Dibon. 

'  I  built  up  Qorhah,24  the  wall  of  the  forest  region,  and 
the  wall.     .     .     .     And  I  built  its  gates,  and  I  built  its 

20  A  town  identified  by  Porter  and  others  with  the  ruins  at  the 
present  Kureiyat,  south  of  Jebel  Attarus,  south  by  west  of  Main. 
Tristram  doubts  whether  Kureiyat  answers  to  Kirjathaim  or  to 
Kerioth,  Kureitun  near  Kerak,  as  he  believes,  answering  to  one  of 
these  towns. 

n  There  was,  according  to  Eusebius  and  Jerome,  a  town  Nebo — 
distinct  and  distant  from  the  mountain  of  the  same  name  (see  vol.  i. 
p.  73) — eight  miles  south  of  Heshbon  (see  vol.  i.  p.  74).  It  is  the 
Nebo  of  Num.  xxxii.  38,  and  of  I.  Chr.  v.  8. 

'2'3  The  surname  Ashtor  characterizes  Chemosh  as  the  god  of  war 
(Schlottmann). 

23  See  vol.  i.  p.  73. 

24  Qorlmh]  According  to  various  expositions,  either  another  name 
for  Dibon  or  the  name  of  a  suburb  of  it,  or  of  one  of  the  plains  of 
Moab. 


42  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

towers,  and  I  built  its  royal  palace,  and  I  erected  the  water- 
reservoirs  in  the  midst  of  the  city.  There  was  no  cistern 
within  the  city  in  Qorhah  ;  so  I  said  to  all  the  people, 
"  Make  each  of  you  a  cistern  in  his  house."     .     . 

'I  built  up  Aroer,25  and  I  constructed  the  road  on  the 
Anion.  I.  rebuilt  Beth-Bamoth,26  for  it  was  destroyed.  I 
built  up  Bezer.27  ...  I  built  up  .  .  .  Beth-Dib- 
lathainr8  and  Beth-Baal-Meon.     .     .     . 

'  Chemosh  said  to  me,  "Go,  and  make  war  on  Horo- 
naini."29  .  .  .  And  I.  .  .  .  Chemosh  in  my 
days.     .     .     .' 

Thus  boasted  the  king  of  Moab,  before  the  inde- 
pendence of  his  country  was  fully  secured.  The 
history  of  the  severest  struggle  which  he  had  to  go 
through  is  given  in  the  following  Israelitish  ac- 
count30— here  abridged — in  which  real  facts  and  a 
popular  story  of  a  prophet  are  blended  together  in 
the  fascinating  way  so  characteristic  of  the  book  of 
Kings : 

Mesha,  king  of   Moab,  was  a  sheep-master,  and 

25  A  town  near  the  north  bank  of  the  Arnon  (see  vol.  i.  p.  70),  ruins 
of  which  are  at  Arair,  or  Araar  (Tristram),  south  of  Dihan. 

26  Supposed  to  be  identical  with  the  Scriptural  Bamoth  ;  see  vol.  i. 
p.  73. 

21  A  place  north  of  the  Arnon,  identified  by  recent  travellers  with 
the  present  Kesur  el-Besheir,  south-west  of  Diban. 

28  Probably  identical  with  Ahnon-Diblathaim  (Num.   xxxiii.  46),  a 
place  north  of  the  Arnon. 

29  A  town  of  southern  Moab.     (See  Is.  xv.  5,  and  Jer.  xlviii.  34.) 

30  II.  Kings  iii. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  43 

rendered  to  the  king  of  Israel  a  hundred  thousand 
fattened  lambs,  and  a  hundred  thousand  rams  with 
the  wool.  But  on  Ahab's  death  he  rebelled.  Joram 
thereupon  went  out  of  Samaria,  and  mustered  all 
Israel.  But  he  also  sent  this  message  to  Jehosha- 
phat :  '  The  king  of  Moab  has  rebelled  against  me : 
wilt  thou  march  with  me  against  Moab,  to  war?' 
The  king  of  Judah  answered :  '  I  will  march ;  it  is 
all  the  same :  I  or  thou  ;  my  people  or  thine ;  my 
horses  or  thine.'  Joram  asked,  'Which  way  shall 
we  march  ( '  And  Jehoshaphat  replied,  '  By  the 
way  of  the  wilderness  of  Edom.'  So  the  kings  of 
Israel  and  Judah,  and  with  them  the  king  of  Edom, 
started,  and  marched  seven  days,  by  a  circuitous 
route,  but  then  found  no  water  for  either  men  or 
beasts.  The  king  of  Israel  despaired,  but  Jehosha- 
phat asked  for  a  prophet  by  whom  to  inquire  of 
Jehovah.  Elisha,  the  disciple  of  Elijah,  was  found, 
and  the  three  kings  went  to  see  him.  The  prophet, 
after  rudely  addressing  the  king  of  Israel,  and  ex- 
pressing his  regard  for  Jehoshaphat,  said,  'Bring 
me  a  minstrel,'  and  when  the  minstrel  played  the 
power  of  Jehovah  was  upon  him.  And  he  said, 
'Thus  says  Jehovah:  "Make  this  valley  full  of 
cisterns."  For  thus  says  Jehovah :  "Ye  shall  see 
neither  wind  nor  rain,  yet  this  valley  shall  be  filled 
with  water,  that  ye  may  drink— ye,  your  cattle,  and 
your  beasts."  And  this  is  but  a  light  thing  in 
Jehovah' s  sight :  he  will  also  deliver  the  Moabites 
into  your  hand.     And  ye  shall  smite  every  fortified 


44  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

city,  and  every  choice  city,  and  fell  every  fine  tree, 
and  stop  all  wells  of  water,  and  mar  every  good 
piece  of  land  with  stones.'  Whereupon,  in  the 
morning,  there  came  water  from  the  side  of  Edom, 
and  the  country  was  filled  with  it.  Now  the  Moab- 
ites,  having  collected  as  one  man  on  hearing  of  the 
approach  of  the  kings  to  fight  against  them,  stood 
there  on  the  border,  and  when  they  rose,  early  in 
the  morning,  the  sun  shining  upon  the  water,  the 
water,  at  a  distance,  appeared  to  them  as  red  as 
blood.  And  they  said,  '  This  is  blood  !  surely,  the 
kings  are  destroyed ;  they  have  beaten  each  other : 
now  for  the  booty,  0  Moab ! '  And  they  came  to 
the  camp  of  Israel ;  but  then  the  Israelites  rose  and 
beat  the  Moabites,  so  that  they  fled  before  them, 
and  they  went  on  beating  them.  And  the  cities 
they  pulled  down,  and  upon  every  good  field  each 
cast  a  stone,  so  that  they  covered  it ;  and  every  well 
of  water  they  stopped,  and  every  fine  tree  they 
felled ;  and  thus  only  the  stones  in  Kir-Hareseth 
were  left,  but  even  that  the  slingers  surrounded  and 
smote.  And  when  the  king  of  Moab  saw  that  the 
battle  was  too  heavy  for  him,  he  took  with  him 
seven  hundred  men,  armed  with  drawn  swords,  to 
break  through  to  the  king  of  Edom  ;  but  they  could 
not.  'Then  he  took  his  eldest  son,  who  was  to 
reign  in  his  stead,  and  offered  him  as  a  burnt-offer- 
ing on  the  .wall ;  whereupon  there  was  great  exas- 
peration against  Israel,  and  they  departed  from  him, 
and  returned  home.' 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  4f, 

The  purely  historical  import  of  the  narrative 
seems  to  be  this :  The  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah 
marched  to  the  southern  shore  of  the  Dead  Sea, 
where  the  king  of  Edom — a  vassal,  or  rather  royal 
lieutenant,  of  Jehoshaphat31 — joined  them  with  his 
force.  Thence  they  advanced  to  the  border  of 
Moab  unopposed,  but,  after  a  long  march  through  a 
country  scorched  by  unusual  heat,  they  found  King 
Mesha  occupying  a  strong  position  on  hills  lining  a 
deep  dried-up  wady,  and,  unable  to  force  him  to 
accept  battle,  they  saw  their  supplies  melting  away, 
and  their  men  and  beasts  perishing  with  thirst. 
Joram,  despairing  of  success,  was  ready  to  with- 
draw, but  Jehoshaphat,  perhaps  really  encouraged 
by  Elisha,  persevered,  and  the  rashness  of  the 
enemy  justitied  his  course.  For  the  Moabites 
abandoned  their  defensive  attitude,  and  at  day- 
break descended  to  the  bottom  of  the  valley  to 
assail  the  camp  of  the  invaders.  They  possibly 
reckoned  on  dissensions,  reported  by  deserters,  be- 
tween the  three  kings,  and  on  the  treachery  of  the 
Edomites.  The  assault,  as  natural  under  the  circum- 
stances, considering  position  and  numbers,  proved  a 
disastrous  failure.  The  remnants  of  Mesha' s  army 
fled  in  every  direction,  and  the  invaders  spread  over 
the  uncovered  country,  destroying  and  ravaging. 
Kir-Hareseth  alone — a  fortress  generally  identified 
both  with  the  Scriptural  Kir-Moab  and  the  present 

31 1.  Kings  xxii.  48  (47)  says  in  reference  to  the  reign  of  Jehosha- 
phat, '  There  was  then  no  king  in  Edom:  a  prefect  was  king.' 


46  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

Kerak,  in  the  extreme  south  of  ancient  Moab — was 
enabled  by  its  position  and  strong  walls  to  offer 
a  protracted  resistance.  But  this  stronghold  was 
commanded  by  heights,  from  which  the  slingers  of 
the  besiegers  hurled  destructive  volleys  upon  the 
defenders.  Only  the  stones  of  Kir-Hareseth  were 
left,  Mesha  made  a  desperate  attempt  to  break 
through,  with  a  chosen  band,  on  the  side  of  the 
Edomites,  perhaps  with  the  hope  that  their  king 
might  still  betray  the  cause  of  the  hated  Hebrews. 
Baffled  in  this  sally,  he  returned  to  the  city,  and,  in 
his  agony,  sacrificed  to  his  god  Chemosh  v  his  eldest 
son'— his  own,  or,  as  some  explain  the  text,  the 
king  of  Edom's,  captured  during  the  struggle.32 
This  deed  of  savage  bigotry  or  revenge  exasperated 
the  Moabites  to  fury,  or  the  Edomites  to  disaffec- 
tion, and  the  siege  was  abandoned. 

These  events,  whatever  their  precise  character 
may  have  been,  are  probably  the  theme  of  the  elegy 
on  Moab  contained  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
chapters  of  Isaiah,  to  which  the  prophet  of  that 
name  added  a  short  epilogue,33  beginning  thus: 
'This  is  the  word  which  Jehovah  spoke  against 
Moab  long  ago,  and  now  Jehovah  speaks  this.' 
That  Isaiah  himself  was  not  the  author  of  the  elegy 
has  been  fully,  and  easily,  established,  chiefly  by 
the  archaic  and  otherwise  peculiar  forms  of  expres- 

32  This  view  is  based  on  Amos's  execrating  Moab  '  for  burning  the 
bones  of  Edom's  king'  (Am.  ii.  1). 

33  xvi.  13,  14. 


OF  THE  AXCIENT  HEBREWS.  47 

sion   in   which   it  abounds ;   so  that  Knobel,   after 
exhibiting   its   various    features,34   justly   remarks, 
'  In  a  word,  the  piece  is  so  peculiar,  through  and 
through,  that  nothing  else  in  the  Old   Testament 
can  be  the  production  of  the  same  author.     .     .     . 
Its  whole  character  is  antique.'     And  it  cannot  be 
explained  as  lamenting,  with  more  or  less  unmixed 
irony,  the  sufferings  of  Moab  when  Hazael  of  Syria 
conquered  the  lands  north  of  the  Arnon ; 3i  for  it 
begins  with  bewailing  Ar-Moab  and  Kir-Moab,  cities 
situated  south  of  that  river,  and,  besides,  that  was 
an  occasion  to  weep  for  Israel,  not  for  Moab.     Nor 
can  its  theme  be — as  many  expounders  maintain — 
the  fall  of  Moab  when  Jeroboam  II.  reconquered 
from  the  Syrians  the  lands  east  of  the  Jordan  ; 36  for 
his  reconquest  extended  only   'to  the  Sea  of  the 
Steppe'   (the  Dead  Sea),37  and,  had  he  conquered 

34  See  note  D,  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 

35 II.  Kings  x.  32,  33. 

36 II.  Kings  xiv.  25. 

31  On  this  point  Schlottmann  (article  '  Moab  '  in  Riehm's  '  Hand- 
worterbuch  des  Biblischen  Altertums  ')  remarks :  '  Die  gewohnliche 
Ansicht  .  .  .  ,  dass  er  Moab  wieder  unterworfen  habe,  diirfte 
auf  unzureichenden  Schlilssen  beruhen.  Als  die  siidlichste  der  von 
ihm  hergestellten  Grenzen  wird  das  Meer  der  Araba,  .  .  .  d.  i. 
das  Todte  Meer  genannt.  Dem  entspricht  Am.  6,  14  der  Bach  der 
Araba  .  .  .  ,  den  manche  mit  dem  Bach  'ardbhim  identificiren, 
wogegen  aber  Gesenius  {tJies.  1065  b)  mit  Recht  geltend  gemacht  hat, 
dass  an  jenen  beiden  Stellen  die  Nordseite  des  Todten  Meeres  als 
Grenze  bezeichnet  sein  muss.  Dort  ist  auch  der  Bach  der  Araba  zu 
suchen  (viell.  der  Wadi  Cliasbdn  oder  W.  es- Suweime),  Die  alte 
Grenze  des  ostjordanischen  Israel  war  der  Arnon:  wenn  der  2.  Kon. 


48  THE  HISTORICAL   POETRY 

Moab,  too,  he  could  not  have  begun  his  work  at  the 
wrong  end  of  the  country,  leaving  Dibon,  and  Nebo, 
and  Medeba,  near  his  border,  to  pray  and  cry  on 
heights,  streets,  and  house-tops,  as  we  read.  Nor 
can  it  be  explained  by  an  Assyrian  invasion,  for  no 
such  invasion  is  anywhere  recorded,  and  not  the 
faintest  allusion  to  Assyria  is  discoverable  in  the 
piece ;  nor  by  a  sudden  irruption  of  desert  tribes, 
for  such  invaders  would  never  have  achieved  the 
great  things  lamented  over,  and  laid  the  proudest 
cities  of  Moab  low  'in  a  night.'  On  the  other 
hand,  not  much  critical  license  is  required  to  ex- 
plain away  all  that  seemingly  opposes  our  reading 
the  elegy  by  the  light  of  the  historical  narratives 
given  above,  while  striking  coincidences  in  names, 
expressions,  and  circumstances  strongly  plead  for 
such  a  proceeding.  Let  us  assume  that  the  elegy 
was  composed — in  parts,  as  its  form  shows — by  a 
prophet  of  Jehovah,  Elisha  or  another,  who  accom- 
panied the  camp  of  the  invaders,  and  whose  sympa- 
thies were  all  on  the  side  of  the  king  of  Judah  ; 
and  that  it  was  completed  shortly  after  Mesha's 
useless  sally,  when  the  Moabite  cause  was  the  most 
desperate.  And  let  us  image  to  ourselves,  as 
we  reasonably  may,  the  condition   of  Moab   after 

13,  20  [14, 25  ?]  nicht  genannt  wird,  so  weist  dies  darauf  bin,  dass 
Jerobeam  II.  den  Moabitern  ibr  nordlich  vom  Arnon  erobertes  Land 
lassenmusste.'  In  any  case,  all  tbat  is  claimed  for  Jeroboam  II.  is 
that  be  'restored'  the  ancient  border  of  Israel,  not  that  he  achieved 

conquests  beyond  it,  south  of  the  Am  mi. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  49 

Mesha'  s  first  defeat  to  have  been  as  follows  :  The 
news  of  that  terrible  defeat,  running  like  wild-fire 
over  all  the  land,  at  a  moment  when  the  people 
confidently  expected  an  announcement  of  the  sur- 
render of  the  starved  invaders  on  the  banks  of  the 
border  wady,  everywhere  spread  consternation  and 
dismay.  Moab  was  ruined  by  a  single  disaster, 
which  it  rushed  into  '  in  a  night '  of  hope,  followed 
by  a  fatal  daybreak.  The  wady,  parched  up  the 
evening  before,  was  at  sunrise  flooded  with  the 
best  blood  of  the  country's  defenders.  The  rest  of 
'  Moab's  armed  men'  were  scattered  to  all  the 
winds,  terror-stricken  and  shrieking.  The  open 
towns  and  villages,  the  unwalled  suburbs  of  the 
fortresses,  were  at  the  mercy  of  pillagers.  The  king- 
was  shut  up  in  a  solitary  stronghold.  In  the  cities 
of  the  north,  more  remote  from  the  scene  of  the 
disaster,  the  people  cried  and  prayed  in  bewilder- 
ment. The  unprotected  people  of  the  south  sought 
refuge  in  caverns  and  among  rocks  on  the  border  of 
the  desert,  or  among  the  reedy  marshes  and  cane- 
brakes  of  the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea.  The  banks  of 
the  Arnon  swarmed  with  fugitives.  The  best  -  shel- 
tered wadys  were  encumbered  with  goods  carried 
off  in  the  flight.  The  consequences  of  the  drought 
to  which  the  invaders  had  nearly  succumbed  added 
to  the  horrors  of  the  homeless.  Some  of  these 
would  even  cross  the  Dead  Sea,  and  implore  the  pro- 
tection of  Zion  against  the  king  of  Samaria,  extol- 
ling the  mercy  of  Jehoshaphat,   and    renouncing 


50  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

allegiance  to  their  tyrant  Meslia  and  his  cruel  god- 
Mourning,  instead  of  the  former  mirth,  reigned  in 
all  the  cities,  in  the  fields  and  vineyards,  of  Moab, 
from  Horonaim  and  Kir-Hareseth  in  the  south  to 
Heshbon  and  Elealeh  in  the  furthest  north.  Kir- 
Hareseth  still  held  out,  but  Mesha's  strength  was 
ebbing  away,  and  his  last  hope  was  Chemosh. 

Such  ought  to  have  been  the  condition  of  Moab 
in  those  days  according  to  the  narrative  in  Kings, 
and  such  a  picture  is-  reflected  in  the  elegy  repro- 
duced and  supplemented  by  Isaiah,  a  poem  of  great 
strength  and  vividness,  and  abounding  in  allusions 
and  plays  upon  words,  some  pronounced  and 
marked,  and  others  almost  hidden.38 

Here  follows  its  first  section : 

(Isaiah  XV.) 

(1)  Yea,  Ar-Moab39  made  desolate  in  a  night, 
struck  dumb  ! 

yea,  Kir-Moab40  made  desolate  in  a  night, 
struck  dumb  ! 

38  Naturally  only  a  few  can  be  rendered  in  the  translation  without 
.sacrificing  sense  to  sound.  Thus  in  the  original  the  syllables  ba, 
hfin,  ba,  be,  bo,  ba,  and  db  are  grouped  in  half  a  verse  (xv.  2),  and 
egl,  yil,  el,  and  yil  in  another  half-verse  (xv.  8).  Few  sentences,  if 
any,  have  suffered  by  this  or  a  similarly  playful  grouping  of  sounds 
or  words.  It  would  be  useless  to  point  out  every  play  of  words  in  a 
note. 

39  The  ancient  capital  of  Moab;  see  vol.  i.  p.  71. 

40 'The  fortress  of  Moab,'  as  in  the  Chaldee  version:  K'rakkd 
d'modb — in  Moabitish  perhaps  'the  city  of  Moab,'  as  appears  from 


OF  TIIE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  51 

Bajith41  and  Dibon  ascend  the  high-places  to  weep  ; 
on  Nebo's  heights,42  on  Medeba's,  Moab  wails ; 
on  all  heads  baldness,43 

Mesha's  inscription — the  present  Kerak,  the  capital  of  the  district  of 
the  same  name,  less  than  ten  miles  from  the  south-east  shore  of  the 
Dead  Sea.  It  is  even  now  a  remarkable  stronghold.  '  Its  position,' 
says  Tristram,  '  is  so  strong  by  nature  that  it  would  be  seized  upon 
as  a  fortress  from  the  very  earliest  times.  A  lofty  brow  pushes 
forward  to  the  west  with  a  flattened  space  on  its  crest,  a  sort  of  head, 
behind  which  the  neck  at  the  south-east  contracts,  and  gives  it 
the  form  of  a  peninsula,  at  the  same  time  that  the  isthmus,  if  I  may 
so  call  it,  rapidly  slopes  down  before  rising  to  reunite  to  its  shoulder 
the  yet  loftier  hill  to  the  east.  The  platform  of  Kerak  stands  3, 720 
feet  above  the  sea  level ;  yet  on  all  sides  it  is  commanded,  some  of 
the  neighboring  heights  being  over  4,050  feet  (barometric).  It  is, 
however,  severed  everywhere,  excepting  at  the  neck,  and  also  in  a 
less  degree  at  the  north-west  angle,  from  the  encircling  range.  Two 
deep  wadys,  from  1,000  to  1,350  feet  deep,  with  steeply  scarped  or 
else  rugged  sides,  flank  it  north  and  south,  the  Wady  Hammad  to 
the  south,  and  Wady  Kerak  to  the  north,  which  unite  about  a  mile 
to  the  west  of  the  city.  .  .  .  The  escarpment  of  the  third  side  of 
the  triangle  is  formed  by  the  Wady  Kobeisheh,  which,  starting  from 
the  depression  which  I  have  called  the  neck,  rapidly  descends  to  the 
Wady  Kerak.' 

41  In  Hebrew,  with  the  article,  liabbayith,  the  house,  place,  or 
temple,  probably  the  foremost  of  the  various  places  in  Moab  of  the 
names  of  which  bayith  (beth)  formed  the  first  part ;  presumably  Beth- 
Baal-Meon,  called  also  Beth-Meon  and  Baal-Meon  (see  above,  note 
19) — which,  as  the  name  indicates,  contained  a  sanctuary  of  Baal — or 
Beth-Bamoth,  '  the  place  of  heights,'  which  Mesha  rebuilt,  according 
to  his  inscription. 

42  In  the  original,  on  Nebo ;  the  town,  not  the  mountain,  of  that 
name  seems  to  be  meant,  as  the  following,  '  on  Medeba,'  indicates. 

43  baldness]  Heb.  qor'Mh.  Nagelsbach  finds  in  this  word  a  de- 
risive allusion  to  the  Qorhah   (nmp)  °f  t^e  Moabite   stone,    in 


52  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

every  beard  is  cut ; 
in  the  streets  they  wear  sackcloth, 
on  house-tops  and  broad  places  the  whole  people  wails, 
melting  away  in  tears. 
Heshbon  cries  out,  and  Elealeh  ;44 
as  far  as  Jahaz  their  howling  is  heard. 
And  Moab's  armed  men  shriek, 
his  soul  shrinks. 
(5)      My  heart  cries  out  for  Moab, 

whose  fugitives  flee  as  far  as  Zoar45 — 
that  three-year-old  heifer.46 
Eor  the  slope  of  Luhith4T 
they  ascend  with  weeping  ; 

■which  King  Mesha  appears  to  have  had  a  royal  residence :  '  if  all 
heads  are  bald,  then,  of  course,  baldness  (Jimp)  reigns  over  Moab.' 

t    :l  t 

44  A  place  situated  a  little  more  than  a  mile  north  by  east  of  Hesh- 
bon ;  its  extensive  ruins  bear  the  name  of  El-Ahl. 

45  Flee  to  the  very  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea.  There  is,  perhaps,  an 
allusion  here  to  the  flight  of  Lot,  the  ancestor  of  Moab,  to  Zoar, 
when  the  surrounding  country  suffered  total  destruction  (Gen.  xix). 

46  This  term  '  is  either  in  apposition  to  Zoar  or  to  Moab.  In  the 
former  case  it  is  a  distinguishing  epithet. '  Either  '  Moab  is  called 
juvenca  tertii  anni,  h.e.,  indomita  jugoque  -non  assueta,  as  a  nation  that 
was  still  in  the  vigor  of  youth,  and  if  it  had  hitherto  borne  the  yoke, 
had  always  shaken  it  off  again,'  or  '  Zoar,  the  fine,  strong,  and 
hitherto  unconquered  city,  is  now  the  destination  of  a  most  wild 
flight  before  the  foe '  (Delitzsch).  Gesenius — who  favors  the  former 
view — quotes  from  Pliny,  '  Domitura  bourn  in  trimatu,  postea  sera, 
antea  praematura.' 

41  A  place  known  to  Eusebius  and  Jerome,  between  Ar-Moab  and 
Zoar.  Whether  the  name  Luhith  —  in  Heb.,  with  the  article, 
Tiallu'Mth — be  derived  from  lua'h,  tablet,  or  from  lea'h,  moisture, 
freshness  (cf.  the  Talmudical  li'ldu'h'ith),  there  seems  to  be  in  'weep- 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  53 

for  on  the  road  to  Horonaim48 

they  raise  a  cry  of  disaster  ; 

for  the  Waters  of  Nimrim" 

are  now  desolate ; 

for  the  grass  is  dried  up, 

the  young  herb  has  vanished, 

the  green  is  no  more. 

Therefore  the  remnant  saved,  their  stores, 

they  carry  to  the  Willow-Brook.50 

For  the  cry  goes  around 

all  the  border  of  Moab  ; 

as  far  as  Eglaim51  the  wailing  goes, 

as  far  as  Beer-Elim52  the  wailing. 

ing '  an  allusion  to  the  meaning  of  its  root,  which,  signifying  '  to  be 
fresh,  to  be  moist,  .  .  .  properly  to  shim,  .  .  .'  is  used  in 
Arabic  also  '  of  the  dripping  of  tears '  (Miihlau  and  Volck's  Gesenius, 
s.  v.  Id'lia'h). 

48  A  descending  road  (see  Jer.  xlviii.  5),  probably  in  opposite 
direction  to  the  road  ascending  to  Luhith. 

49  Identified  by  Palmer  and  Tristram  with  the  Wady  Nemeirah, 
flowing  into  the  Dead  Sea  through  the  south-west  portion  of  Moab. 

50  Heb.  na'hal  Jid'ardbim,  identified  by  Delitzsch  with  the  Wady 
Safsaf  (Willow  Brook),  the  northern  branch  of  the  Wady  Kerak,  on 
which  Kir-Moab  was  situated.  That  wady  was  noted  by  Irby  and 
Mangles,  and  also  pointed  out  to  Tristram.  As  to  the  identification 
of  the  na'hal  hd'a/rdbim  with  the  na'hal  hd'drdbdh  of  Am.  vi.  14, 
see  above,  note  37. 

51  Heb.  eglayim,  perhaps  identical  with  En-Eglaim('e?i  'eglayim),  at 
the  south  end  of  the  Dead  Sea  (Ezek.  xlvii.  10),  '  or  more  probably 
with  the  AyaXAel/j.  of  Eusebius,  which  he  locates  eight  Roman 
miles  south  of  Areopolis,'  or  Ar-Moab  (Gesenius),  or  with  both 
(Delitzsch). 

62  Probably  the  Beer  of  Num.  xxi.  16-18  (sec  vol.  i.  pp.  71,  72),  a 


54  THE   HISTORICAL  POETRY 

For  Pinion's  flow53  is  a  flood  of  blood: 
I  make  additions  to  Dimon. 
A  lion  upon  the  survivors  of  Moab, 
upon  the  remnant  of  the  land  ! 

The  second  section  introduces  the  fugitives,  pray- 
ing for  protection,  and  offering  submission  to  the 
throne  of  Judah,  an  offer  which  is  contemptuously 
refused : 


locality  in  the  north-east  of  Moab,  perhaps  at  a  point  diametrically 
opposite  to  Eglaim  in  the  extreme  south-west. 

63  Heb.  me  dlmon,  the  waters  of  Dimon,  probably  a  brook  which 
flowed  past  Madmen,  a  Moabite  town  mentioned  in  Jer.  xlviii.  2, 
and  alluded  to  in  Is.  xxv.  10,  if  not  mentioned  there  too  in  the 
original  b'me  madmenah,  which  the  Masorites  have  changed  into  Vmo 
madmenah.  Madmen  answers,  perhaps,  to  me  dlmon,  as  Medeba  to 
me  d'bd  ('tranquil  waters,'  Gesenius).  The  name  Dimon,  formed 
like  Dibon  (from  dub.  not  from  dabari),  and  in  the  verse  before  us 
brought  into  a  play  upon  words  with  dam,  blood  (cf.  dimkhem,  your 
blood),  may  have  been  given  the  wady  on  account  of  the  reddish  color 
of  its  bottom,  which  gave  a  bloody  appearance  to  its  waters;  and  if 
the  fighting  between  Mesha  and  the  three  kings  took  place  on  that 
wady,  the  story  of  II.  Kings  iii.  about  the  fatal  delusion  of  the 
Moabites  could  be  explained  either  as  founded  on  a  fact  or  as  evolved, 
in  a  poetical  legend,  out  of  a  natural  possibility.  It  also  deserves 
notice  that  at  the  end  of  our  verse  there  is  in  addmdh  a  playful  allusion 
to  red,  blood,  and  Dimon  {adorn,  dam,  dimon),  and,  perhaps,  another 
allusion  to  the  bloody  Dimon  and  the  additions  of  blood  to  it,  at  the 
very  beginning  of  the  elegy,  in  the  twice  given  nidmdli,  'struck 
dumb, 'a  word  kindred  in  its  root  to  dam.  The  choice  of  addmdh, 
where  we  should  look  for  ha'dm,  or,  at  least,  for  hddrelz  (Nagelsbach), 
was  undoubtedly  determined  by  the  sound. 


OF  TUE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  55 

(XVI.) 

(1)  Send  ye  the  fattoned  lamb"  of  the  ruler  of  the  land" 
from  a  rock66  by  the  desert," 

54  fattened  Iambi  Heb.  kar,  the  same  word  which  we  find  (in  the 
pi.  kdrlm)  in  the  statement  of  Mesha's  tribute  to  the  king  of  Israel 
(II.  Kings  iii.  4). 

65  Due,  as  tribute,  to  the  Hebrew  suzerain,  the  real  ruler. 

56  From  a  rock]  Not  from  Sela  (Petra),  the  Hebrew  name  of  that 
Idumsean  rock-fastness  being  hassela',  the  rock  (II.  Kings  xiv.  7,  and, 
perhaps,  Judg.  i.  36).  The  meaning  of  the  verse  is:  Send  now  tribute, 
not  from  your  capital,  but  from  your  places  of  refuge  among  rocks 
by  the  desert.  The  author  of  Jer.  xlviii.,  an  amplification  of  our 
elegy,  therefore  turned  the  verses  before  us  into  '  Abandon  the  cities, 
and  dwell  in  the  rock,  O  inhabitants  of  Moab;  and  be  like  a  dove 
that  has  her  nest  in  the  sides  of  the  mouth  of  a  cave  '  (verse  28  ;  cf 
II.  Sam.  xvii.  9,  where  pa'hath,  cave,  appears  as  a  hiding-place).  The 
confounding  of  sela'  with  hassela'  has  served  as  a  support  for  the  no- 
tion that  a  flight  from  the  north  to  the  south  and  to  Edom  is  described 
in  Is.  xv.,  a  notion  which  cannot  stand  a  close  examination  of  the 
text.  {Cf  "Wetzstein's  dissertation  on  Sela  and  Bozrah  in  Delitzsch's 
'Commentary  on  Isaiah,' third  edition:  'Alle  Erklarungsversuche, 
wie  die  Moabiter  dazu  kommen,  die  landesherrlichen  Liimmer  aus 
dem  edomitischen  Sela'  zu  holen,  sind  unbef riedigend. ') 

51  by  the  desert]  Literally,  at  the  desert,  or  toward  the  desert,  Heb. 
midbdrdh,  with  the  ah  locale  in  its  softened  meaning  ('  in  etwas  abge- 
schwachter  Bedeutung,  um  einen  Ort  zu  bezeichnen,  wo  sich  etwas 
befindet,'  Kautzsch's  'Gesenius'  Hebriiische  Grammatik,' §  90;  cf. 
Rodiger's  edition,   §  88,  and    Ewald's    'Lehrbuch,'  §  216),    as   in 

na^nn  Kijrp  DirnK  (i-  Kings  iv.  14),  -jjte^x  nottn  (Jer. 

xviii.  2),  HQ^  TltOp  "ltt>tf  (H-  Kings  xxiii.  8),  and,  according  to 
Rodiger  and  Ewald,  in  n^DD  CWD}  HliT  *\?b  CpH  (Jer-  xxix- 
15)  and  n^Dl  1/0J7  ITV  ttfEttf  (Hab.  iii.  11);  or  in  its  commoner 
meaning  as  in  nHJj  CBx.  xxvi.   18,  Josh,   xviii.  15),  nrVlTQj  Pia1 

n:n*p,,  mm  ni2ip' 


56  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

to  daughter  Zion's  mount. 
Like  birds  fluttering  about, 
like  scattered  nestlings, 
Moab's  daughters  will  be, 
at  Arnon's  fords. 
'  Give  counsel, 
frame  a  decision  ;58 
make  thv  shade  like  night 
in  the  midst  of  noontide  ; 
hide  the  fugitives, 
betray  not  the  homeless  ; 
let  my  fugitives  sojourn  with  thee, 
to  Moab  be  a  shelter69 
from  the  spoiler. 
Yea,  the  oppressor  is  no  more, 
violence  is  past, 

the  trampler  has  vanished60  from  the  land  ; 
(5)  but  on  mercy  a  throne  is  established, 
and  enthroned  on  it  is  in  truth — 
in  David's  tent — 

58  Give  counsel,  frame  a  decision]  The  Hebrew  imperatives  in  the 
following  lines  (and  here  as  corrected  by  the  Masorites)  are  in  the 
sing.  fem.  The  prayer  is  thus  addressed,  by  fugitives,  to  '  daughter 
Zion.' 

59  Let    .      .     .     shelter]     The  substitution  of  Tn3  f°r  Tnji  m 

....  —    T  * 

accordance  with  the  Alexandrian,  Chaldee,  and  Syriac  versions, 
changes  the  rendering  of  the  two  lines  into  the  following:  Let  Moab's 
fugitives  sojourn  with  thee,  be  a  shelter  to  them, 

60  the  trampler  has  vanislied]  In  the  original  the  noun  is  in  the 
sing.,  and  the  verb  in  the  pi.,  which,  if  correct,  would  require  in  a 
literal  translation  a  rendering  like  every  trampler  lias  vanished  ;  but 
the  correctness  of  the  verb  may  be  doubted. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  57 

a  judge  zealous  for  right, 

and  ready  for  justice.' — 

'  We  have  heard  of  Moab's  haughtiness, 

the  very  lofty ; 

of  his  pride,  and  haughtiness,  and  insolence — 

and  the  falsehood  of  his  talk  ! ' 

A  few  of  the  preceding  lines,  in  the  original, 
almost  unmistakably  contain  a  succession  of  allu- 
sions, in  sound  and  meaning,  to  names  most  con- 
spicuous in  the  history  of  Mesha.  The  '  oppressor ' 
(Heb.  meg)  is  Mesha  himself  (mesha1,  '  the  savior') ; 
the  'tram pier'  (rOmes)  is  the  trampling  and  sub- 
duing god  Chemosh ; 61  the  judge  (shophet)  zealous 
for  right  (mishpdt)  is  Jehoshaphat,  through  whom 
k  Jehovah  judges '  (sluvpliat).  And  the  Hebrew 
words  used  here  for  '  oppressor '  6~  and  '  trampler ' 
occur,  in  these  forms,  nowhere  else  in  the  Bible. 

61  Chemosh]  In  reference  to  the  etymology  of  this  name,  Schlott- 
mann  (in  Riehm's  Bible  Dictionary,  art.  'Charnos')  says:  '  Uns  ist 
am  wahrscheinlichsten  die  von  Gesenius  vertheitligte,  wonach  das 
Wort  (von  der  Wurzel  Kdmasch  =  Kdbhasch)  den  Gott  als  den  be- 
zeichnet,  welcher  die  feindlichen  Gewalten  niedertritt  nnd  biindigt. 
Es  passt  das  gut  zu  seiner  Auffassung  als  Ares.  Und  es  spricht 
dafi'ir  das  fast  gleichlautende  syrische  Wort  Kemuscli  —  Alp,  incubus, 
epJiialtes.'    Gesenius  (s.  v.  kdmash)  compares,  besides,  Ar.  Mbus,  Syr. 

0 

kamshuna,  skins  of  pressed  grapes  (' vom  Zertreten ').  Miihlau  and 
Volck,  in  their  edition  of  Gesenius,  cling  to  the  same  view,  which  is 
also  that  of  Movers  and  Keil. 

83  '  oppressor ']  More  strictly,  perhaps,  blood-sucker  or  marrow- 
sucker. 


58  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

The    last    section    resumes    the    purely  elegiac, 
though  ironic,  tone : 

(XVI.) 

(7)  Therefore  Moab  wails  for  Moab, 
all  of  him  wails. 

For  the  grape-cakes  of  Kir-Hareseth63 
ye  moan,  utterly  undone. 
Heshhon's  fruit-fields  are  withered, 
Sibmali's64  vine  is, 

whose  choice  plants  crushed  lords  of  nations," 
touched  Jazer,66  spreading, 
trailed  through  the  desert ; 
its  shoots  wandered  far, 
crossed  the  sea. 


63 


!Vitringawas  the  first  to  identify  Kir-Hareseth,  or  Kir-Heres, 
with  Kir-Moab  (see  above,  note  40),  and  his  view  has  been  adopted 
by  the  best  critical  commentators  with  rare  unanimity.  Kir-Moab 
may  have  been  the  Hebrew  name  of  the  town,  designating  it  as  the 
principal  fortress  of  the  land,  and  Kir-Hareseth  the  Moabitish, 
marking  it  as  '  brick-town '  or  '  pottery-town '  (cf.  Heb.  ^"1"  and 
rPDin) — °n  account  of  its  fortifications  or  manufactures — or,  what 
Palmer  deduces  from  a  local  Arabic  word,  as  '  hill-town.' 

64  Sibmah]  Or  Sebam  (in  the  Authorized  Version,  inaccurately, 
Shebam;  cf.  Num.  xxxii.  3,  38),  a  town  located  by  Jerome  at  a  dis- 
tance of  hardly  five  hundred  paces  from  Heshbon. 

65  Broke  them  down  with  intoxication ;  compare  Heb.  Ml'mu, 
crushed,  with  half/ me  yaxjin,  crushed  with  wine  (Is.  xxviii.  1).  The 
verse  is  thus  explained  by  Coccejus,  Vitringa,  Hitzig,  Knobel,  and 
others,  against  whom  Rosenmuller,  Gesenius,  Ewald,  and  NSgelsbach 
uphold  the  older  rendering,  Iwds  of  nations  crushed  its  choice  plants. 

66  In  the  north,  between  Heshbon  and  Ramoth-in-Gilead,  according 
to  Eusebius  and  Jerome. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREW*.  59 

Therefore  I  weep 
with  weeping  Jazer 

for  Sib  mail's  vine  ; 
I  water  thee  with  tears, 
0  Heshbon,  with  Elealeh. 
For  upon  thy  fruit-harvest, 
upon  thy  vintage,67 
the  war-shout  has  fallen. 
(10)  And  joy  is  cut  off, 

and  exultation,  from  the  garden-land  ; 

in  the  vineyards  there  is  no  singing, 

no  huzzaing ; 

no  wine,  in  the  presses, 

is  pressed  by  the  treaders, 

'  the  wine-shout  I  have  abolished. ' 

Therefore  my  bosom's  strings 
for  Moab  like  a  harp  are  stirred, 
my  inward  parts  for  Kir-Heres. 

And  now,  when  it  appears 
that  Moab's  strength  expires 
on  the  heights- 
he  goes  into  his  sanctuary  to  pray, 
but  he  is  powerless. 

6'  vintage]  In  the  original,  kdclr,  instead  of  Mew,  on  account  of 
alliteration  with  the  preceding  kapic  (Delitzsch),  the  word  is  thus 
used  in  Is.  xviii.  5  (Knobel).  In  Jer.  xlviii.  32  the  usual  baclr  is 
substituted. 

«8  the  height]  The  high  battling-ground ;  cf.  ^n  "^niM  by  "|r01PP 
(ii.  Sam.  i.  25),  ^TEJP  THM  by)  (Ps-  xviii-  34)>  "03TT  ^HlDD  by) 
(Hab.  iii.  19),  nil?  "WID  by  ^HD31  (Jud.  v.  18). 


60  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

In  regard  to  the  connection,  here  sought  to  be 
established,  between  the  Scriptural  narrative  of 
Mesha's  war69  and  the  elegy  reproduced  by  Isaiah, 
the  following  points  may  still  be  noticed  as  sig- 
nificant. Kir-Hareseth,  or  Kir-Heres,  occurs  only  in 
these  two  pieces  and  in  Jeremiah's  amplification  of 
the  latter.  In  both  pieces  that  town  appears  (or 
reappears)  at  the  end :  in  the  narrative  as  the  last 
stronghold  defended  by  the  Moabites,  and  in  the 
elegy  as  the  city  representing  all  Moab  in  its  last 
agony.70  Its  mention  is  directly  followed  in  the 
narrative  by  a  verse  beginning,  '  And  when  the  king 
of  Moab  saw  that  the  battle  was  too  heavy  for  him,' 
and  ending,  '  but  they  were  powerless  ; ' 71  and  in  the 
elegy  by  one  beginning,  '  And  now,  when  it  appears 
that  Moab's  strength  expires  on  the  height,'  and 
ending,  '  but  he  is  powerless.'  n  The  narrative  ends 
with  Mesha'  s  sacrifice  of  a  royal  son,  and  a  mysteri- 
ous hint  at  indirect  guilt  in  the  monstrous  deed : 
the  poet  breaks  off  abruptly  at  Moab's  entering  the 
sanctuary,  as  if  shrinking  in  horror  from  the  con- 
tinuation. A  similar  horror  seems  to  have  pre- 
vented the  narrator  of  the  story  of  Jephthah's 
daughter  from  distinctly  stating  what  was  the  fate 


69 II.  Kings  iii. 

10  Mark  the  parallelism,  ' for  Moab    .     .     .     for  Kir-Heres.' 

11  Or,  '  but  they  could  not '  (Heb.  v'lo  yd 
18  Or,  '  but  he  cannot '  (v'ld  yukMT). 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  61 

of  that  victim  ; n  and  a  kindred  sentiment  caused  a 
Greek  artist  who  painted  Agamemnon  and  Iphi- 
genia  at  the  altar  to  veil  the  face  of  the  father. 

13  '  He  did  with  her  according  to  his  vow  which  he  had  vowed,'  is 
the  writer's  circumlocution  (Judg.  xi.  39). 


62  THE    HISTORICAL  POETRY 


XXV. 

Such  had  been  the  relations  of  the  Israelites  with 
their  neighbors  all  around  when  Amos  of  Tekoa,  in 
the  time  of  Uzziah  of  Jndah  and  Jeroboam  II.  of 
Israel,  about  800  B.C.,  'two  years  before  the  earth- 
quake,' launched  his  denunciations  of  wickedness, 
and  prophetic  announcements  of  divine  vengeance, 
against  all  those  neighboring  peoples,  and  against 
Judah  and  Israel  themselves.  He  had  come  from 
Judah  to  preach  righteousness  in  Israel,  but  began 
with  a  rapid  introductory  survey  of  all  the  sur- 
rounding ground,  as  if  to  show  that  no  special 
hatred  inspired  his  words,  and  that  his  predictions 
of  woe  flowed  from  an  all-embracing  sacred  convic- 
tion, which  admitted  of  no  exception  :  Jehovah  was 
pure  and  just ;  the  nations  were  sinful — Jehovah' s 
justice  demanded  their  downfall.  Their  crimes 
were  many,  but  one  would  suffice  to  illustrate  those 
of  each  nation.  Jehovah  had  decreed  their  doom, 
and  he  would  not  reverse  his  decree.  Amos' s  utter- 
ances were  brief,  oracular,  poetical : 

(Amos  I.) 

(3)  Thus  says  Jehovah: 

'  For  three  crimes  of  Damascus, 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  63 

and  for  a  fourth,1  I  reverse  it  not: 
for  threshing  Gilead  with  iron  rollers.2 
So  I  send  fire  into  Hazael's  house, 
and  it  devours  the  palaces  of  Ben-Hadad.3 
(5)  I  break  the  bar  of  Damascus, 

cut  off  the  see-holder  from  the  vale  of  Aven,4 
the  sceptre-holder  from  Beth-Eden,5 
and  Syria's  people  is  driven  away  to  Kir '  ° — 
says  Jehovah. 

Thus  says  Jehovah  : 
*  For  three  crimes  of  Gaza, 

1  for  a  fourth]  In  the  original,  for  four;  the  fourth  is  specified. 
For  a  similar  use  of  '  three  '  and  '  four  '  in  addition,  where  only  four 
are  meant  altogether,  see  Prov.  xxx.  15,  18,  21,  29. 

2  This  is  probably  a  figurative  allusion  to  the  cruelties  perpetrated 
by  Hazael  of  Syria  at  his  conquest  of  Gilead  and  all  the  rest  of  Trans- 
jordanic  Palestine,  during  the  reign  of  Jehu  (II.  Kings  x.  32,  33).  Of 
the  atrocities  then  committed  we  have  a  telling  picture  in  II.  Kings 
viii.  12. 

3  of  Ben-Hadad]  Of  Ben-Hadad  III. ,  Hazael's  son,  or,  more  prob- 
ably, of  the  kings  of  that  name  in  general. 

4  vale  of  Avert]  Valley  of  nothingness,  or  of  idols,  an  unidentified 
place  (Gesenius,  Keil);  or  valley  of  On,  that  is  of  Heliopolis  (Baal- 
bek) in  Ccele-Syria  (Ewald,  Hitzig,  Mlihlau  and  Volck's  Gesenius; 
see  note  B  at  the  end  of  vol.  i.). 

5  Beth-Eden]  Abode  of  delight,  probably  a  summer  residence  of  the 
Syrian  kings.  Ewald,  Keil,  and  others  identify  Beth-Eden,  after 
Grotius,  with  the  Paradisus  of  Ptolemy,  in  the  district  of  Laodicea, 
the  site  of  which  is  marked,  according  to  Robinson,  by  the  ruins  of 
Old  Jusieh,  near  the  north  end  of  the  elevated  plain  of  Coele-Syria. 
Various  other  identifications  have  been  attempted. 

6  Kir]  The  country  from  which  it  originally  came  (Am.  ix.  7); 
see  note  E,  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 


64  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

and  for  a  fourth,  I  reverse  it  not: 

for  driving  off  a  full  host  of  captives, 

to  deliver  them  to  Edom.7 

So  I  send  fire  into  Gaza's  wall, 

and  it  devours  her  palaces  ; 

I  cut  off  the  see-holder  from  Ashdod, 

the  sceptre-holder  from  Ashkelon, 

and  turn  my  hand  against  Ekron, 

and  the  remnant  of  the  Philistines  perishes ' — 

says  the  Lord  Jehovah. 

Thus  says  Jehovah: 
'  For  three  crimes  of  Tyre, 
and  for  a  fourth,  I  reverse  it  not: 
for  delivering  a  full  host  of  captives  to  Edom, 
and  forgetting  the  brotherly  covenant.8 

''for  driving  .  .  .  to  Edom]  For  carrying  off  entire  popula- 
tions of  Israelitish  villages  surprised  in  hostile  inroads,  and  selling 
them  as  slaves  to  the  Edomites,  the  inveterate  enemies  of  their 
Hebrew  kindred.  Gaza  is  here  spoken  of  as  the  representative  city 
of  Philistia,  or  as  the  state  whose  hostility  was  principally  conspicu- 
ous. Of  the  four  other  leading  Philistine  cities  Gath  alone  is 
omitted— as  it  also  is  in  Zech.  ix.  5,  6,  and  in  Zeph.  ii.  4— owing 
probably  to  comparative  insignificance  after  its  conquest  by  Hazael 
(IT.  Kings  xii.  18  [17]). 

8  The  Tyrians,  in  delivering  Israelites — bought,  probably,  from 
Syrian  captors,  and  carried  through  Philistia — to  the  Edomites,  set 
aside  the  friendly  alliance  which  prevailed  between  the  Phoenicians 
and  the  people  of  Israel  from  the  times  of  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  who 
'  was  ever  a  loving  friend  of  David '  (I.  Kings  v.  15  [1]),  and  '  con- 
cluded a  covenant '  with  Solomon  (ibid  26  [12]),  whom  he  called  his 
'  brother  '  (I.  Kings  ix.  13).  Thus  the  text  before  us  is  explained  by 
Rashi,  but  Aben  Ezra  and  Kimhi  find  the  Tyrians  guilty  of  for- 
getting the  brotherly  ties  which  united  the  Edomites,  to  whom  they 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  65 

(10)  So  I  send  fire  into  Tyre's  wall, 
and  it  devours  her  palaces.' 

Thus  says  Jehovah: 
'  For  three  crimes  of  Edom, 
and  for  a  fourth,  I  reverse  it  not: 
for  pursuing  his  brother  with  the  sword, 
and  stifling  his  compassion, 
so  that  his  wrath  preys9  for  ever, 
and  he  keeps  his  fury  eternally. 
So  I  send  fire  into  Teman,10 
and  it  devours  the  palaces  of  Bozrah.' " 

Thus  says  Jehovah: 
'  For  three  crimes  of  the  Ammonites, 
and  for  a  fourth,  I  reverse  it  not: 
for  ripping  up  the  pregnant  women  of  Gilead.12 

delivered  the  captives,  with  the  Israelites,  as  Esau-Edom  was  the 
brother  of  Jacob-Israel.  The  former  view  is  adopted  by  Hitzig  and 
Keil,  and  the  latter  by  Ewald. 

9  Ms  wrath  preys]     Heb.  }£)$  ^IQ**,  as  in  Job  xvi.  9:  rp^  ")P)J$; 

but  it  has  been  suggested  that  Pn^i  stands  by  mistake  for  -^,he 

guards,  which  would  give  us  he  guards  his  wrath  for  ever  in  the  same 
parallelism  with  the  following  '  he  keeps  his  fury  eternally  '  which 
we  find  in  Jer.  iii.  5  ('  Will  he  guard  his  anger  for  ever  ?  will  he 
keep  it  eternally  ?  '),  and  in  Ps.  ciii.  9  ('  He  will  not  chide  eternally, 
nor  guard  his  anger  for  ever  '). 

10  A  southern  region  of  Edom. 

11  According  to  the  prevalent  view,  an  important  town  of  Edom, 
in  the  mountains,  between  the  Dead  Sea  and  Petra,  the  extensive 
ruins  of  which,  at  the  modern  village  of  El-Busaireh,  have  been 
described  by  Burckhardt.  Wetzstein  contends  for  the  identity  of 
Bozrah  and  Petra  ;  see  above,  p.  36. 

12  The  same  barbarity  is  foretold  in  II.  Kings  viii.  12  of  Hazael, 
who  conquered  Gilead,  '  presumably  ex  cventu :   it  is,  therefore,  not 


66  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

to  extend  their  border  ! 
So  I  kindle  fire  in  Kabbah's13  wall, 
and  it  devours  her  palaces — 
amid  war-shouts  on  a  day  of  battle, 
in  a  storm  on  a  day  of  tempest ; 
(15)  and  their  king  goes  into  exile, 
he  with  his  princes  all ' — 
says  Jehovah. 

(II.) 
(1)      Thus  says  Jehovah: 

'  For  three  crimes  of  Moab, 

and  for  a  fourth,  I  reverse  it  not: 

for  burning  the  bones  of  Edom's  king  into  lime.14 

So  I  send  fire  into  Moab, 

and  it  devours  the  palaces  of  Kerioth  ; 15 


improbable  that  the  Syrians  and  Ammonites  joined  hands  on  that 
occasion '  (Hitzig). 

13  Rabbah,  or  Rabbah  of  the  Ammonites,  had  its  name  (tfw  great) 
probably  from  its  being  the  capital  (the  great  city)  of  that  people. 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus  named  it  Philadelphia.  Polybius  knew  it  as 
Rabbatamana  (the  Rabbah  of  Ammon),  and  Abulfeda  as  Amman. 
The  place  where  its  ruins  were  discovered  by  Burckhardt  still  bears 
the  latter  name.     It  lay  south-east  of  Ramoth-in-Gilead. 

14  This  act  is  generally  referred  by  commentators  to  the  war  of 
the  triple  alliance  against  Mesha,  who,  on  the  retreat  of  the  allies, 
is  presumed  by  some  to  have  overtaken  and  slain  the  king  of  Edom, 
while  others  see  in  the  '  burning  of  the  bones  of  the  king  of  Edom ' 
the  sacrificing  of  the  (Edomite)  crown-prince  by  the  Moabite  king, 
'  as  a  burnt-offering.'     (See  above.) 

16  Kerioth]  In  the  Authorized  Version  here  Kirioth,  a  town  of 
Moab  mentioned  twice  in  Jer.  xlviii.,  and  identified  by  Hitzig  and 
ethers  with  Kureiyat  (see  above  XXIV.,  note  20),  but  by  Ewald, 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  67 

and  Moab  perishes  in  tumult,16 
amid  war-shouts  and  trumpet-blasts  ; 
and  I  cut  off  the  judge  from  the  land," 
and  all  its  princes  I  slay  with  him ' — 
says  Jehovah. 

Thus  says  Jehovah: 
'For  three  crimes  of  Judah, 
and  for  a  fourth,  I  reverse  it  not: 
for  scorning  Jehovah's  instruction, 
and  disregarding  his  laws  ; 
when  they  were  led  astray  by  their  deceits, 
after  which  their  fathers  had  walked.18 
(5)  So  I  send  fire  into  Judah, 

and  it  devours  the  palaces  of  Jerusalem.' 

Muhlau  and  Volck,  and  others  deemed  identical  with  Ar-Moab,  the 
ancient  capital  of  the  country. 

16  An  allusion  to  the  appellation  '  sons  of  tumult '  (men  of  tumult) 
by  which  the  Moabites  were  popularly  or  poetically  designated  ;  see 
Jer.  xlviii.  45,  and  cf.  Num.  xxiv.  17,  in  the  original. 

"from  the  land]     Literally,  from  her  (its,  Moab's)  midst. 

18  Wellhausen  (' Geschichte  Israels,'  vol.  i.  p.  59)  suspects  this 
general  reproach  cast  upon  Judah,  so  different  from  the  preceding 
specifications  of  crime,  to  be  spurious. 


68  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 


XXVI. 

Having  thus  cast  rapid  glances  over  all  the 
nations  around,  and  announced  a  tempest  which 
was  to  lay  low  their  pride,  Amos  turned  his  eye 
upon  the  kingdom  of  Israel  before  him,  and  there, 
too,  saw  crimes  which  prevented  the  reversal  of  Je- 
hovah' s  decree.  But  there,  whither  he  had  gone  to 
act,  his  gaze  remained  fixed  upon  the  spectacle 
before  him,  his  indignation  overpowered  him,  and, 
even  before  finishing  his  regular  utterance  of  doom, 
he  plunged  into  a  bitter  harangue.  Such  is  the  im- 
pression which  the  first  words  of  Amos  against 
Israel  produce  upon  our  mind.  We  can  almost 
image  to  ourselves  the  plain  poor  man  from  Tekoa 
— for  he  was  one  of  the  shepherds  of  that  little 
town1  who  tended  their  flocks  on  the  borders  of  the 
wilderness  of  Judah — standing  before  a  concourse 
of  people  at  the  public  place  of  Beth-El  or  Samaria, 
reading  from  a  scroll  brought  with  him  the  last  of 
a  string  of  direful  prophetic  utterances,  and  sud- 
denly breaking  off  at  the  fresh  remembrance  of 
shocking  experiences,  and  wildly  pouring  forth 
against  his  hearers  accusations,  reproaches,  and 
imprecations.    It  was  heartless  oppression    of   the 

1  Am.  i.  1,  vii.  14,  15.     This  last  verse  proves  that  he  tended  flocks, 
not  herds. 


OF  THE  ANCIEN1*  HEBREWS.  69 

poor  by  the  rich  and  the  guardians  of  justice,  and 
shameless  licentiousness,  fed  by  extortion,  which 
wrung  from  him  this  outburst  of  wrath  : 

(Amos  II.) 

(G)  Thus  says  Jehovah: 

'  For  three  crimes  of  Israel, 

and  for  a  fourth,  I  reverse  it  not: 

for  selling  the  innocent  man  for  money, 

and  the  needy  on  account  of  a  pair  of  shoes.3 

They  pant  after  dust  of  the  earth  on  the  head  of  the 

poor,3 
and  pervert  the  way  of  the  meek  ; 
son  and  father  go  to  the  same  damsel, 
to  desecrate  my  holy  name  ; 
on  pawned  clothes  they  stretch  themselves 
hy  every  altar, 

and  wine  of  the  mulcted4  they  drink 
in  the  house  of  their  God. 

'  And  yet,  i"  destroyed  the  Amorite  before  them, 
him  who  was  as  high  as  cedars, 

2  Selling  him  as  a  slave  to  his  creditor  for  money  lent  him,  or 
even  for  the  paltry  price  of  a  pair  of  shoes  which  he  is  unable  to 
pay.  The  parallel  sentence  in  Am.  viii.  6  shows  that  '  for  money ' 
does  not  mean  for  a  bribe.  As  to  the  practice,  in  the  kingdom  of  the 
ten  tribes,  of  enslaving  debtors,  and  even  their  children,  see  II. 
Kings  iv.  1. 

3  They  long  to  see  the  poor  leaving  the  seat  of  justice  as  con- 
demned criminals,  with  dust  strewn  upon  their  heads  (Ewald). 

4  wine  of  the  mulcted']  Or,  mulct  wine  (paid  with  extorted  fines), 
'anushim  being,  perhaps,  a  noun  pi.  like  'dshuqlm,  used  by  the  same 
prophet  (Am.  iii.  9). 


70  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

and  as  strong  as  oaks  ; 

I  destroyed  his  fruit  above, 

and  his  roots  beneath. 
(10)  /  brought  you  up  from  the  land  of  Egypt, 

and  led  you  through  the  wilderness,  forty  years, 

to  take  possession  of  the  Amorite's  land. 

'And  I  raised  up  some  of  your  sons  to  be  prophets, 

and  some  of  your  youths  to  be  Nazarites5 — 

Is  not  this  so,  0  sons  of  Israel  ?' — 

Jehovah's  utterance. — 

'  But  ye  made  the  Nazarites  drink  wine, 

and  commanded  the  prophets  thus: 

"  Ye  shall  not  prophesy." 
'  Behold,  I  press  you  down,6 

as  the  wain  presses  when  full  of  sheaves. 

And  the  swift  loses  his  flight, 

the  stanch  strengthens  not  his  force, 

the  hero  saves  not  his  life, 
(15)  the  wielder  of  the  bow  stands  not, 

the  light-footed  escapes7  not, 

the  rider  of  the  horse  saves  not  his  life, 

5  The  Nazarites,  men  consecrated  by  their  own  or  their  parents' 
vow  to  a  life  of  abstinence,  and  wearing  in  their  unshorn  locks  the 
outward  sign  of  then  consecration,  were  living  embodiments  of  the 
moral  principle  as  opposed  to  luxury  and  self-indulgence.  In  the 
period  of  the  judges,  in  which  Samson  and  Samuel  appear  as 
Nazarites,  they  may  have  exercised  as  popular  leaders  an  influence 
akin  to  that  of  the  prophets  of  the  same  or  later  times. 

6  down}  Heb.  ta'htekfiem,  as  ta'htdm  is  used  in  Job  xl.  12  (Gese- 
nius). 

1  escapes]  Supply  napMlw  after  if  mallet  (as  in  Job  xx.  20),  or  read, 
with  Ilitzig,  t/int nutlet. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  71 

and  the  most  brave-hearted  of  heroes  flees  naked, 
in  that  day' — 
Jehovah's  utterance. 

After  this  we  hear  Amos  more  calmly  and  col- 
lectedly address  the  people  of  the  northern  king- 
dom, telling  them  that  their  selection  by  Jehovah 
is  far  from  giving  them  an  immunity  for  sin  and 
wrong,  explaining  what  forces  him  to  announce 
peril,  and  pointing  out  the  manifold  sources  of 
corruption  from  which  woe  must  spring.  He  seems 
to  speak  in  the  capital  of  the  kingdom,  Samaria : 
her  palaces,  gorgeous  with  the  spoils  conquered  by 
Joash  and  Jeroboam  II. ,  stand  before  him,  and  her 
luxury  and  sinfulness,  fostered  by  wealth  and  suc- 
cess, glaringly  strike  his  eyes.  He  speaks  at  first 
to  all  the  people  : 

(III.) 

(1)  Hear  this  word, 

which  Jehovah  speaks  about  you, 

0  sons  of  Israel — 

'  about  the  whole  race 

which  I  brought  up  from  the  land  of  Egypt, 

saying, 

"  You  alone  I  have  noticed  of  all  the  races  of  the 

earth : 
therefore  I  will  punish  all  your  iniquities."  ' 

Do  two  walk  together 
without  joining  each  other  ? 


72  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

Does  a  lion  roar  in  the  forest, 
and  have  no  prey? 
Does  a  young  lion  cry  from  his  den 
unless  he  seizes  ? 
(5)  Does  a  bird  fall  into  a  net  below, 
and  there  is  no  springe  for  him  ? 
Does  a  net  rise  from  the  ground, 
and  nothing  is  caught  ? 
Is  the  trumpet  blown  in  a  city, 
and  the  people  are  not  alarmed  ? 
Or  does  a  calamity  befall  a  city, 
and  Jehovah  has  not  done  it  ? 

Surely  the  Lord  Jehovah  does  naught 
without  revealing  his  secret  to  the  prophets,  his  ser- 
vants : 
A  lion  has  roared — who  should  not  fear  ? 
The    Lord   Jehovah    has   spoken  —  who    should    not 
prophesy  ? 

Let  a  voice  resound  over  Ashdod's  palaces, 
and  over  the  palaces  in  the  land  of  Egypt ; 
calling,  '  Assemble  on  Samaria's  hills, 
and  see  the  many  tumults  within  her, 
the  oppression  in  her  midst.' 
(10)  'They  know  not  to  do  right'— 
Jehovah's  utterance — 
'  they  who  hoard  in  their  palaces  rapine  and  prey.' 

He  then  apostrophizes  Samaria : 

(III.  11.) 

Therefore  thus  says  the  Lord  Jehovah: 
'  A  foe — all  around  the  land  ! 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  73 

And  he  brings  down  thy  strength"  from  thee, 
and  thy  palaces  are  plundered.' 

Jeroboam  II.  had  probably  at  that  time  humbled 
Israel's  most  dreaded  enemy,  Damascus,  reconquer- 
ing the  Israelitish  territories  from  the  neighborhood 
of  Hamath,  far  in  the  north,  to  the  Dead  Sea,9  and 
again  opening  the  proud  metropolis  of  Syria  to  the 
wealthy  merchants  of  Samaria,  to  whom,  a  century 
earlier,  Ben-Hadad  II.  had  surrendered  separate 
streets  in  his  capital.10  But  the  real  danger  to  the 
kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes  had  long  ceased  to  lurk 
in  that  neighboring  quarter.  It  was  the  great 
power  beyond  the  Euphrates  which  threatened 
destruction,  and  both  Samaria  and  Damascus  were 
to  be  its  victims : 

(III.  12-15.) 

Thus  says  Jehovah: 

'  As  the  shepherd  snatches  from  a  lion's  month 

a  pair  of  shanks  or  a  piece  of  an  ear, 

so  shall  the  sons  of  Israel  escape: 

they  who  dwell  in  Samaria  with11  a  corner  of  a  bed, 

8  strength]     Fortifications ;  'oz,  perhaps  for  migdal  'oz  (Aben  Ezra). 

s  II.  Kings  xiv.  25. 

10 1.  Kings  xx.  34. — That  Jeroboam  conquered  Damascus  itself  is 
also  by  some  accepted  as  a  fact,  after  II.  Kings  xiv.  28;  but  that 
verse  is  very  obscurely  worded,  and  admits  of  a  different  explanation. 
See  Thenius,  in  loco. 

11  with]  3,  after  1^31,  as  in  C^2tt  HjQttQ  tO^Q2>  escaped 
with  eight  men    (Jer.  xli.  15),  i^W  TU?D  niO^/2nX"l>  aD(1  I  escape 


74  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

and  they  in  Damascus  with  that  of  a  couch.12 

'Hear  ye,  and  testify  to  the  house  of  Jacob:' — 
utterance  of  the  Lord  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Hosts — 
'  In  the  day  when  I  visit  Israel's  crimes  upon  him, 
I  will  visit  the  altars  of  Beth-El  ;13 
and  the  altar-horns  shall  be  struck  off, 
and  fall  to  the  ground. 

And  I  smite  winter-palace  and  summer-palace,14 
and  the  ivory  houses  perish, 
and  many  mansions  disappear ' — 
Jehovah's  utterance. 


These  luxurious  mansions  of  the  magnates  are 
the  abodes  of  effeminacy  and  expensive  profligacy. 
The  caprices  of  wanton  women,  who  rule  the  men. 
must  be  satisfied  at  any  price,  however  ill-gotten. 
These  women  are  thus  adverted  to  : 


with  the  skin  of  my  teeth  (Job.  xix,  20),  and  t^pt^  tf?  VTlOrQ>  *ie 
escapes  not  with  what  he  loves  (Job.  xx.  20);  cf.  also  Tl"Dy  ^pE2 
(Gen.  xxxii.  11),  and  nit^IP  D"HD3    •    •    •    1p6jJm  (L  Sam-  *■  24)- 

12  In  the  original,  elliptically,  and  in  Damascus  of  a  couch.  See 
note  F,  at  the  end  of  the  volume. — The  meaning  of  the  verse  is  that 
those  escaping  before  the  enemy  will  barely  be  able  to  save  slight 
fragments  of  their  costly  furniture,  fragments  as  worthless  as  are  to 
the  shepherd  a  few  torn  limbs  of  his  lamb,  the  body  of  which  the 
lion  devours. 

13  Beth-El]  The  principal  seat  of  the  Jehovistic  image  worship,  as 
organized  by  Jeroboam  I.,  according  to  I.  Kings  xii.  26-33. 

14  Probably  royal  palaces  in  Samaria.  A  winter  palace  of  one  of 
the  kings  of  Judah  is  mentioned  in  Jer.  xxxvi.  22. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  UEBREW8.  7fJ 

(IV.  1-4.) 

Hear  this  word, 

ye  Bashan-cows," 

on  Samaria's  hill ; 

ye  who  extort  from  the  poor, 

and  crush  the  needy; 

who  say  to  your  lords, 

'  Bring,  that  we  may  feast :' 

The  Lord  Jehovah  swears  by  his  holiness, 

'  Behold,  days  are  coming  upon  you, 

when  they  will  drag  you  away  with  hooks, 

and  your  remnant  with  fisher's  thorns  ; 

and  across  breached  walls  ye  leave, 

each  by  herself, 

and  ye  rush16  into  Harmon  ' 1? — 

Jehovah's  utterance. 

15  Fat  and  wanton  cows,  like  those  raised  on  the  rich  pastures  of 
Bashau,  east  of  the  Jordan. 

16  ye  rush]  Hitzig  finds  a  similar  use  of  hishllkh  in  II.  Kings  x.  25 
and  Job  xxvii.  22;  but  a  slight  change  in  the  form  used  would 
change  the  rendering  into  ye  are  hurled. 

11  Ilarmoii\  Perhaps  another  form,  peculiar  with  Amos,  for 
Hermon,  just  as  he  has  pnW  (vii-  9>  16)  f°r  piTST)  FpDE  (vi-  10) 
for  rn^D>  and  2NHQ  (yi-  8)  for  2J7HE-  The  Chaldee  renders 
harmon  by  Armenia,  and  others,  considering  the  word  equivalent  to 
armon,  translate,  into  the  castle. — The  meaning  of  the  whole  predic- 
tion, probably,  is  that  many  of  the  voluptuous  women,  at  the  sack 
of  the  capital,  will  be  rudely  dragged  away  as  captives,  as  cows  are 
driven  from  Bashan  with  hooks  in  their  nostrils  (cf.  Is.  xxxvii.  29: 
'I  put  my  hook  into  thy  nose,  and  my  bridle  into  thy  lips'),  while 
others  will  try  to  save  themselves  by  flight,  each  creeping  through  a 
hole  in  the  wall. 


76  THE  HISTORICAL  FOETRY 

The  prophet  then  turns  again  to  the  mass  of  the 
people,  and  after  ironically  telling  them  to  go  on  in 
turns  sinning  and  atoning  by  sacrifices — at  idola- 
trous, or  semi-idolatrous,  national  altars  —  depicts 
their  chastisement  in  the  past,  and  the  power  of 
him  who  will  still  chastise  them : 

(IV.) 

(4) 'Go  ye  to  Beth-El,  and  transgress  ; 

to  Gilgal,18  and  heap  crime  upon  crime  ; 

bring  your  sacrifices  every  morning, 

every  third  day19  your  tithes, 
(5)  and  offer  thank-offerings  with  incense  and  leaven, 

18  A  place  at  which  also  according  to  Hosea  (xii.  12  [11];  ef.  iv.  15 
and  ix.  15)  sacrifices  took  place.  It  is  either  the  Gilgal  in  the 
Jordan  valley  east  of  Jericho,  at  which  holy  practices  took  place  in 
the  time  of  Joshua  (Josh.  v.  3,  9,  10),  and  burnt-offerings  and  peace- 
offerings  were  offered  before  Jehovah  in  the  time  of  Samuel  (I.  Sam. 
x.  8,  xi.  15,  xiii.  8-10,  xv.  21),  or  the  Gilgal  which  received  a  degree 
of  sanctity  from  the  sojourn  there  of  Elijah  and  Elisha  (II.  Kings 
ii.  1),  and  from  a  school  of  prophets  presided  over  by  the  latter  (II. 
Kings  iv.  38).  That  the  two  places  are  not  identical  is  proved  by 
the  circumstance  that  Elijah  and  Elisha  descended  from  their  Gilgal 
to  Beth-El  (II.  Kings  ii.  2),  which  lay  more  than  a  thousand  feet 
above  the  altitude  of  Gilgal  in  the  Jordan  valley.  The  Gilgal  of 
Elijah  and  Elisha — and  probably  of  Amos  and  Hosea — is  best 
identified  with  the  present  village  of  Jiljiheh,  situated  at  an  altitude 
of  upward  of  three  thousand  feet,  south-west  of  Seilun  (Shiloh),  and 
half  way  between  Jerusalem  and  Nablus,  though  Jiljulieh  between 
Nablus  and  Joppa  may  also  be  compared. 

19  every  third  day]  The  Authorized  Version's  'after  three  years  '  is 
an  unnecessarily  forced  rendering  of  the  plain  words  of  the  original. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HElillEWS.  77 

and  proclaim  freewill-offerings  aloud; 
for  thus  ye  like  it,  sons  of  Israel ' — 
the  Lord  Jehovah's  utterance. 

'  And  /  also  have  given  you 
cleanness  of  teeth  in  all  your  towns, 
and  want  of  bread  in  all  your  places: 
yet  ye  have  not  returned  to  me ' — 
Jehovah's  utterance. 

'  I  also  withheld  the  rain  from  you, 
three  months  before  the  harvest ; 
and  caused  it  to  rain  upon  one  town, 
and  not  to  rain  upon  another  ; 
one  field  was  rained  upon, 
and  another,  not  rained  upon,  withered; 
so  two,  three  towns  would  wander  to  one 
to  drink  water,  but  would  not  be  satisfied: 
yet  ye  returned  not  to  me  ' — 
Jehovah's  utterance. 

'I  smote  you  with  blight  and  mildew; 
your  many  gardens  and  vineyards, 
fig-trees  and  olive-trees, 
the  locust  devoured: 
yet  ye  returned  not  to  me ' — 
Jehovah's  utterance. 
(10)     'I  sent  pestilence  among  you, 
in  the  Egyptian  manner  ; 
I  slew  with  the  sword  your  youths, 
together  with  your  captured  steeds,20 

20  Heb.  CD^DID  TJtt'  CV>  probably,  by  mistake,  for  ^  Qy 
DTdD*  with  tne  flower  of  your  steeds.  Cf.  P^D/IDD  "^  (Is- 
xiii.  19). 


78  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

and  made  the  stench  of  your  camp  ascend, 

even  into  your  nostrils: 

yet  ye  returned  not  to  me ' — 

Jehovah's  utterance. 

'  I  wrought  destruction  among  you, 
like  the  divine  overthrow  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrha, 
and  you  were  like  a  brand  plucked  out  of  the  fire : 
yet  ye  returned  not  to  me ' — 
Jehovah's  utterance. 

'  Therefore,  thus  will  I  do  to  thee,  0  Israel — 
Because  I  will  do  this  to  thee, 
prepare  to  meet  thy  God,  0  Israel.' 
For  here  is  he  who  shaped  the  mountains, 
and  created  the  wind, 
and  can  tell  man  what  his21  thought  is  ; 
who  turns  dawn  into  darkness, 
and  marches  over  the  heights  of  the  earth — 
Jehovah,  God  of  Hosts,  is  his  name — 

(V.  8,  9.)22 
who  made  the  seven-stars  and  Orion, 
turns  death-shades  into  morning, 
and  darkens  day  into  night ; 
who  summons  the  waters  of  the  sea, 
and  pours  them  over  the  surface  of  the  earth — 
Jehovah  is  his  name — 


21  his]    Man's. 

22  That  these  two  verses  are  the  continuation  of  the  preceding,  and 
entirely  out  of  place  where  we  rind  them  in  the  book,  is  obvious. 
Ewald  also  connects  the  two  fragments,  but  at  the  wrong  place. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  79 

who  flashes  desolation  upon  the  strong,*3 
and  desolation  bursts  upon  the  stronghold. 

Then  follow  announcements  of  impending  ruin, 
fresh  denunciations  of  the  iniquities  of  the  powerful 
and  the  rich,  and  exhortations  to  repentance : 

(V.) 

(1)  Hear  this  word, 

which  I  take  up  against  you,  as  a  dirge, 

0  house  of  Israel: 

Fallen,  never  to  rise, 

is  the  virgin  Israel ! 

prostrate  on  her  soil, 

with  none  to  lift  her  up  ! 

For  thus  says  the  Lord  Jehovah: 

'  The  city  which  marches  out  by  a  thousand 

shall  retain  a  hundred, 

and  that  which  marches  out  by  a  hundred 

shall  retain  ten, 

for  the  house  of  Israel.'" 

Thus  says  Jehovah  to  the  house  of  Israel: 

'  Seek  me,  and  live  ; 
(5)  but  seek  not  Beth-El, 

repair  not  to  Grilgal. 

23  the  strong]  Het>.  ]y,  perhaps,  by  mistake,  for  jj?,  in  the  sense  of 
}]}  ^HJE,  tower,  citadel  (see  above,  note  8),  and  in  parallelism  with 
~£JDE>  stronghold,  fortress. 

24  for  the  house  of  Israeli  Words  contained  in  the  following  line 
(see  the  original),  and  perhaps  wrongly  inserted  here. 


80  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

and  go  not  over  to  Beer-Sheba.86 
For  Gilgal  glides  into  gloomy  exile,56 
and  God's-House27  is  to  be  Nought's.28 
Seek  Jehovah,  and  live  ; 
lest  he  break  as  fire  into  the  house  of  Joseph, 
and  it  devour,  and  none  quench  it  for  Beth-El.' 
They  change  right  into  wormwood, 
and  cast  righteousness  to  the  ground.29 
(10)  They  hate  the  admonisher  at  the  gate,30 
and  abhor  him  who  speaks  in  innocence. 
'  Now,  because  ye  trample  upon  the  poor  man, 
and  extort  from  him  a  tribute  of  corn : 
in  the  houses  of  squared  stone  ye  have  built 
ye  shall  not  dwell ; 

of  the  delicious  vineyards  ye  have  planted 
ye  shall  not  drink  the  wine. 
I  know,  many  are  your  crimes, 
and  mighty  your  sins. — 
Foes  of  the  innocent, 

25  Make  no  pilgrimages  across  the  Judsean  border.  In  regard  to 
the  sanctity  of  Beer-Sheba,  see  above,  IV.  (vol.  i). 

26  A  free  imitation  of  the  play  upon  words  in  the  original. 

27  Gods-House]    The  translation  of  Beth-El. 

23  Heb.  pxp,  for  px  |TP2^>  Nought's-House,  the  name  into  which 
Hosea  repeatedly  changes  that  of  Beth-El.  (See  note  F,  at  the  end 
of  the  volume.) — Beer-Sheba's  downfall  is  not  predicted,  for  that 
town  did  not  belong  to  '  the  house  of  Israel '  in  the  narrower  sense, 
which  is  addressed  here. 

29  The  two  verses  following  in  the  text  are  given  above.  (See 
note  22.) 

30  at  tJiegate]  At  the  public  place  adjoining  the  city  gate,  used  for 
judicial  sittings  and  popular  gatherings. 


OF  TUB  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  81 

takers  of  ransom, 

they  bow  down  the  needy  at  the  gate.' 

Now,  he  who  reflects  in  this  time  is  silent, 
for  it  is  an  evil  time. 
Seek  the  good,  and  not  evil, 
that  ye  may  live  ; 

and  may  Jehovah,  tho  God  of  Hosts, 
be  so  with  you  as  ye  say. 
(15)  Hate  evil,  and  love  the  good, 
and  set  up  justice  at  the  gate  : 
Jehovah,  the   God   of  Hosts,  might    then   become 

gracious 
to  the  remnant  of  Joseph. 

Now,  thus  says  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Hosts,  the 
Lord: 
*  At  all  the  wide  places  wailing  ! 
in  all  the  streets  men  shall  cry,  '  Alas,  alas  ! ' 
They  call  the  husbandman  to  mourning, 
announce  wailing  to  those  skilled  in  lamentation. 
In  all  the  vineyards  wailing  ! 
for  I  pass  through  thy  midst ' — 
says  Jehovah. 

Woe  to  you  who  long  for  Jehovah's  day  ! 81 
What  good  is  Jehovah's  day  to  you  ? 
it  is  darkness,  not  light. 
So  a  man  flees  before  a  lion, 
and  is  met  by  a  bear  ; 
he  enters  the  house 
and  rests  his  hand  on  the  wall, 
and  is  bitten  by  a  snake. 

31  A  day  of  divine  judgment,  in  which  Israel  would  be  exalted. 


82  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

(20)  Yea,  Jehovah's  day  is  darkness,  not  light; 

gloom  without  a  ray. 

'  I  hate,  I  detest,  your  feasts, 

I  enjoy  not  your  holy  gatherings. 

If  ye  bring  me  burnt-offerings, 

or  your  flour-offerings — I  dislike  them; 

at  your  peace-fatlings  I  look  not. 

Eemove  thou  from  me  the  noise  of  thy  songs, 

thy  harp-music  let  me  not  hear; 

but  let  justice  flow  as  waters, 

and  righteousness  as  a  perennial  stream. 
(25)  Did  ye  bring  me  sacrifices  or  offerings 

in  the  wilderness,  in  those  forty  years, 

0  house  of  Israel  ? 

Ye  bore  the  image  of  your  king, 

the  figure  of  your  idols, 

of  your  star,  the  god, 

whom  ye  made  to  yourselves.32 

1  will  drive  you  away  beyond  Damascus ' — 
says  Jehovah,  whose  name  is  God  of  Hosts. 

(VI.) 
(1)      "Woe  to  the  men  without  care  in  Zion,33 
to  the  undisturbed  on  Samaria's  hill, 
the  chief  men  of  the  foremost  among  nations, 
to  whom  the  house  of  Israel  flocks  ! 
Go  ye  over  to  Calneh,34  and  see  ; 

32  See  note  G,  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 

33  This  side-glance  cast  upon  Zion,  the  holy  city  of  the  prophet's 
own  land,  seems  to  spring  from  a  sudden  remembrance,  which,  for  a 
moment,  he  is  unable  to  suppress. 

34  A  city  '  in  the  land  of  SShinar '  (Gen.  x.  10),  identified  by  two 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  83 

and  proceed  thence  to  Hamath,  the  great,3* 

and  go  down  to  Philistine  Gath: 

are  they  fairer  than  these  kingdoms  ?38 

is  their  border  larger  than  yours  ? 

Men  who  put37  far  off  the  evil  day, 

and  bring  near  and  seat  oppression; 

who  lie  on  ivory  beds, 

and  stretch  themselves  on  their  couches ; 

who  eat  lambs  from  the  flock, 

and  calves  from  the  fattening-stall; 


Targums,  Eusebius,  Jerome,  and  Ephraem  Syrus  with  the  classical 
Ctesiphon  on  the  Tigris,  opposite  Seleucia,  and  by  George  Rawlin- 
son,  after  the  Talmud,  with  the  present  Niffer  in  the  marshes  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Euphrates,  about  sixty  miles  south-east  of  the  ruins 
of  Babylon.  The  former  identification  is  strengthened  by  the  cir- 
cumstance that  Pliny,  though  he  alone,  locates  Ctesiphon  in  an 
Assyrian  province  called  Chalonitis  (Gesenius,  'Thesaurus,'  p.  691), 
while  Rawlinson's  conjecture  is  all  but  refuted  by  the  highly  prob- 
able identity  of  Niffer  with  the  Nipur  of  the  cuneiform  inscriptions 
(see  Scbrader,  'Die  Keihnschriften  und  das  Alte  Testament,'  p.  19). 
Cf,  George  Smith,  '  History  of  Babylonia,'  p.  61 :  '  Calneh,  which  the 
Talmud  identifies  with  Nipur  or  Niffer,  .  .  .  more  probably  lay 
near  the  Tigris.'  Menant  in  his  '  Annales  des  rois  d'Assyne' 
(p.  18)  followed  Oppert  in  identifying  Calneh  with  Mugheir,  but  in 
'  Babylone  et  la  Chaldee,'  published  a  year  later  (1875),  stated  (p.  93), 
'la  trace  de  Chalaneh  est  encore  a  decouvrir.' 

35  Hamath,  on  the  Orontes,  the  present  Hamah,  was  in  the  ninth 
century  B.C.  the  capital  of  the  most  powerful  kingdom  in  northern 
Syria,  as  numerous  Assyrian  cuneiform  inscriptions  testify. 

36  time  kingdoms]     Israel  and  Judah. 

37  Men  who  put]  In  the  original  these  men  are  adverted  to  first  in 
the  second  person,  but  immediately  after,  and  then  constantly,  in  the 
third. 


84  THE  HISTOBICAL  POETRY 

(5)  who  prattle  to  the  tunes  of  the  lyre, 

and  invent  vocal  instruments  like  David; 

who  drink  wine  in  bowls, 

and  anoint  themselves  with  the  best  of  oils, 

and  pine  not  over  Joseph's  woe — 

these,  now,  will  be  driven  at  the  head  of  the  captives, 

and  the  shouting  of  the  couching38  will  cease. 

The  Lord  Jehovah  swears  by  his  self — 
utterance  of  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Hosts  : 
'  I  abhor  the  pride  of  Jacob,39 
and  hate  his  palaces  ; 

and  I  will  deliver  up  the  city,  and  all  in  it. 
Then,  if  ten  remain  in  one  house,  they  shall  die ; 
(10)  and  a  relative   and  corpse-burner  lifts  one  up, 
to  carry  the  bones  out  of  the  house; 
and  when  he  says  to  the  man  in  the  innermost  part 

of  the  house, 
"Are  there  with  thee  more    .     .     .?" 
that  one  answers,  "  None," 
and  says,  "  Hush! 

it  is  not  to  be  mentioned — by  Jehovah's  name!"  ' 40 

38  'S'ru'hlm  .  .  .  points  back  to  verse  4,  "they  who  are 
stretched  on  their  couches  " — that  is,  the  revellers  ;  and  it  forms  a 
play  upon  words  with  mirza'h  '  (Keil,  after  others). 

39  the  pride  of  Jacob']  Samaria,  which  Isaiah,  in  a  similar  harangue 
(Is.  xxviii.  1),  calls  'the  proud  crown,'  or  '  the  crown  and  pride,'  '  of 
Ephraim's  drunkards. '  Zion  is  designated  '  the  pride  of  Jacob '  in 
Ps.  xlvii.  5  (4),  and  Babylon,  in  Is.  xiii.  19,  '  the  proud  glory,'  or  '  the 
glory  and  pride,'  'of  the  Chaldees.'  '  The  city  and  all  in  it,'  which 
follows,  is  thus  in  perfect  parallelism  with  '  the  pride  of  Jacob '  and 
'  his  palaces. ' 

40  This  rendering,  for  which  the  translator  is  indebted  to  Dr.  Samuel 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  85 

For,  behold,  Jehovah  commands, 
and  the  large  house  is  smitten  into  fragments, 
and  the  small  house  into  shivers. 

Do  horses  run  upon  a  rock, 
or  does  one  plow  it  with  oxen,41 
that  ye  turn  right  into  poison, 
and  the  fruit  of  righteousness  into  wormwood  ? — 
Ye  rejoice  in  a  thing  of  nought, 
and  say,   '  Have  we  not  by  our  own  strength 
acquired  our  horns  ?' 

*  Behold,  I  raise  against  you,  0  house  of  Israel ' — 
utterance  of  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Hosts — 
'  a  nation,  that  will  oppress  you 
from  Hamath's  region  to  the  Brook  of  the  Steppe.' 42 


Adler,  of  New  York,  is  made  plain  by  the  alteration,  in  the  preceding 
text,  of  -tf-jtf  H123  int0  "TO  n^22-  and  of  "ttttMl  int0  biWIX 
The  sense  then  is:  Ten,  in  the  house  of  one,  die  (himself  surviving). 
A  relative  is  requested  to  burn  the  bones.  When  he  asks,  '  Are  there 
more '  .  .  .  ,  the  survivor,  crouching  in  a  corner,  begs  him  (from 
dread  and  superstition)  not  to  pronounce  (the  word  dead). 

41  Heb.  C"HpD3  l#"nrP  CN-  Hitzig,  after  J.  D.  Michaelis,  divides 
the  last  word  into  jni  ~]p22,  and  obtains  '  or  does  one  plow  the  sea 
with  oxen?'  '  The  dporriZ  nv/uaroS  .  .  .  plows  not  with  oxen,  and 
litus  arare  bubus  proverbially  denotes  perverted  actions.'  In  any  case 
it  may  be  presumed  that  instead  of  ^"irP  (tyirV)  there  was  origi- 
nally t£HI"p-     The  meaning  of  the  question  is:  Can  things  be  turned 

••  T   " 

upside  down  without  becoming  ridiculous  or  destructive  ? 

42  of  the  Steppe]  Literally,  of  tlie  Arabah,  a  word  presumed  to 
correspond  to  the  modern  Ghor,  the  great  valley  or  depression  of 
Palestine  and  Edom,  the  southern  portion  of  which,  '  lying  beyond 
the  cliffs  on  the  south  of  the  Dead  Sea,  is  called  by  the  Arabs  Wady 
el-' Arabah'  (Robinson,  'Later  Biblical  Researches,' p.  334).     Which 


86  THE  HISTORICAL   POETRY 

brook  is  meant  cannot  be  determined  (see  above,  XXIV.  note  37), 
but  it  probably  marked  the  southern  point  of  Jeroboam  II. 's  recon- 
quests,  which,  according  to  II.  Kings  xiv.  25,  extended  to  '  the  Sea  of 
the  Steppe,'  while  in  the  north  his  power  reached  tbe  vicinity  of 
Hamath.  Amos  means  to  say,  All  this  power  of  which  ye  boast, 
which  ye  have  evinced  in  your  contests  with  Syria,  will  soon  prove 
of  no  avail,  when  a  much  mightier  enemy  will  assail  you. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  87 


XXVII. 

The  nation  in  which  Amos  saw  the  future  chas- 
tiser  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  if  not  of  all  Israel, 
can  be  no  other  but  Assyria.  That  power  had,  in 
the  ninth  century  B.C.,  repeatedly  loomed  up  on 
the  northern  horizon  of  Palestine,  invading  Syria. 
Already  in  the  earlier  part  of  that  century — accord- 
ing to  most  Assyriologists  —  the  Assyrian  king 
Assurnazirpal  boasted  in  a  famous  cuneiform  in- 
scription of  having  crossed  the  Euphrates,  imposed 
a  tribute  on  King  Lubarna  of  Syria,  marched  across 
the  Orontes,  occupied  the  slopes  of  Lebanon,  ad- 
vanced to  the  Mediterranean,  and  received  the  trib- 
ute of  Tyre,  Sidon,  and  other  cities  of  Phoenicia.1 
Assurnazirpar  s  son  and  snccessor  Shalmaneser  II. , 
'  the  conqueror  of  all  the  lands,'  tells  the  following 
of  a  campaign  in  the  sixth  year  of  his  reign,  in  the 
black  obelisk  inscription  discovered  by  Layard  at 
Nimrud  :2 

'  The  Euphrates  in  its  upper  part  I  crossed. 
The  tribute  of  the  kings  of  the  Hittites/ 

'See    Menant,    'Annates    des    rois    d'Assyrie,'    pp.    87-89,    and 
Schrader,  'Die  Keilinschriften  und  das  Alte  Testament, '  pp.  66,  67. 

2  The    rendering    of    this    inscription    here    adopted    is    Sayce's 
('Records  of  the  Past,'  vol.  v.). 

3  In  northern  Syria  (Hatti,  'hafti). 


88  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

all  of  them,  I  received.     In  those  days  Kimmon-idri4 

of  Damascus,  Irkhulina  of  Hamath,  and  the  kings 

of  the  Hittites  and  of  the  sea-coasts   to  the  forces  of 

each  other 
trusted,  and  to  make  war  and  battle 
against  me  came.     By  the  command  of  Assur,  the  great 

Lord,  my  Lord, 
with  them  I  fought.     A  destruction  of  them  I  made. 
Their  chariots,  their  war-carriages,  their  war-material  1 

took  from  them. 
20,500  of  their  fighting  men  with  arrows  I  slew.' 

In  his  inscription  on  the  monolith  found  at 
Kurkli,  near  Diarbekir,  the  same  king  enumerates 
the  forces  of  the  Syrian  confederacy  arrayed  against 
him  in  that  campaign,  and  among  them  he  mentions 
ten  thousand  men  of  Ahaabbu  Sirlaai,  in  whom 
Oppert,  Norris,  Schrader,  and  other  Assyriologists 
recognize  Ahab  of  Israel.  Of  Shalmaneser's  cam- 
paigns in  his  tenth,  eleventh,  and  fourteenth  years 
the  black  obelisk  speaks  thus  : 

'  In  my  tenth  year  for  the  eighth  time  the  Euphrates  I 
crossed.  The  cities  of  Sangara  of  the  city  of  the  Car- 
chemishians  I  captured. 

To  the  cities  of  Arame  I  approached.  Arne,  his  royal 
city,  with  100  of  his  (other)  towns  I  captured. 

In  my  eleventh  year  for  the  ninth  time  the  Euphrates  I 

4  '  This  is  the  Ben-hadad  of  Scripture,  whose  personal  name  seems 
to  have  been  Rimmon-idri '  (Sayce).  Schrader  and  Menant  read 
Bin-idri  or  Bin-hidri.  George  Smith  ('  The  Assyrian  Eponym 
Canon')  substitutes  Ben-hadar. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  89 

crossed.  Cities  to  a  countless  number  I  captured.  To 
the  cities  of  the  Hittites 

of  the  land  of  the  Hamathites  I  went  down.  Eighty- 
nine  cities  I  took.  Rimmon-idri  of  Damascus  (and) 
twelve  of  the  kings  of  the  Hittites 

with  one  another's  forces  strengthened  themselves.  A 
destruction  of  them  I  made. 

...  In  my  fourteenth  year  the  country  I  assembled  ; 
the  Euphrates  I  crossed.  Twelve  kings  against  me  had 
come. 

I  fought.     A  destruction  of  them  I  made.' 

Of  the  two  last-mentioned  campaigns  Shalman- 
eser's  'bull  inscription'  gives  fuller  accounts,  boast- 
ful of  destruction,  carnage,  and  captures ;  and  of  a 
later  expedition  its  relation5  is  this  : 

'  In  my  eighteenth  year  the  sixteenth  time  the  river 

Euphrates 
I  crossed.     Hazael  of  Syria6 
to  the  might  of  his  warriors 
trusted,  and  his  warriors 
in  numbers  he  gathered. 
Saniru,  a  peak  of  the  mountains 
which  are  in  front  of  Lebanon,  as  his  stronghold 
he  made.     With  him  I  fought, 
his  overthrow  I  accomplished.     16,0007 
men  of  his  army  with  weapons 
I  destroyed,  1,121  of  his  chariots, 

5  As  rendered  by  George  Smith  in  his  '  Eponym  Canon.' 

6  Substituted  for  Hazailu  of  Imirisu  (Schrader). 

7  According  to  Schrader  and  Menant  ;  Smith  has  '  18,000.' 


90  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

410"  of  his  carriages,  with  his  camp 

I  took  from  him.     To  save 

his  life  he  fled.     After  him  I  pursued, 

in  Damascus,  his  royal  city,  I  besieged  him, 

his  plantations  I  cut  down,  to  the  mountains 

of  Hauran  I  went,  cities 

without  number  I  pulled  down,  destroyed, 

in  the  fire  I  burned,  their  spoil 

without  number  I  carried  off. 

To  the  mountains  of  Bahlirahsi, 

which  are  at  the  head  of  the  sea,  I  went.     An  image 

of  my  majesty 
in  the  midst  I  made.     In  those  days 
the  tribute  of  Tyre 
and  Zidon,  of  Jehu, 
son  of  Omri,  I  received.' 

Jehu,  son  of  Omri — in  the  inscriptions,  ya-Tiu-a 
Jiabal  ihu-um-ri-i —  is  believed  by  many  Assyri- 
ologists  to  designate  Jehu  of  Israel,  not  the  son 
but  the  exterminator  of  the  house  of  Omri.9  The 
Assyrians,  it  is  supposed,  were  led  to  this  erroneous 
appellation  by  the  fame  which  Omri  enjoyed  among 
them,  and  which  also  induced  them  to  call  the 
kingdom  of  Israel,  even  in  later  times,  the  land  of 
Omri  —  mat   '■hu-um-ri-i    or  mat    bit   'liu-um-ri-i. 

8  So  in  Schrader's  text  and  translation  ;  Smith  has  '  470,'  Menant 
'460.' 

•  King  Jehu  was  the  son  of  Jehoshaphat,  the  son  of  Nimshi  (II. 
Kings  ix.  2),  but  he  is  generally  called  in  the  Scriptures  the  son  of 
Nimshi. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  91 

The  black  obelisk  inscription  specifies  Jehu's 
tribute  as  consisting  of  '  silver,  gold,  bowls  of  gold, 
vessels  of  gold,  goblets  of  gold,  pitchers  of  gold,' 
and  similar  things.  The  same  inscription  describes 
Shalmaneser'  s  twenty-first  campaign : 

*     ...     To  the  cities 
of  Hazael  of  Damascus10  I  went.    Four  of  his  fortresses 

I  took.     The  tribute  of  the  Tynans, 
the  Zidonians,  (and)  the  Gebalites11  I  received.' 

There  is  undoubtedly  a  great  deal  of  empty  brag, 
and  perhaps  of  direct  lying,  in  these  Assyrian 
monumental  relations  of  slaughter  and  rapine. 
Many  a  predatory  incursion  is  there  probably  mag- 
nified into  a  grand  campaign,  and  ransom  received 
from  open  towns  belonging  to  Phoenicia  into  tribute 
paid  by  the  powerful,  unconquered  and  unbesieged, 
cities  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  —  cities  which  were  tri- 
umphantly to  resist  greater  conquerors  than  Assur- 
nazirpal  and  Shalmaneser  II.  Nor  did  the  latter 
king,  after  all  his  boasted  victories  over  the  Syrians, 
ever  enter  the  city  of  Damascus.  Why  he  with- 
drew from  before  its  besieged  walls  he  wisely  omits 
to  tell.  What  his  '  cities  without  number,  pulled 
down,  destroyed,  burned,'  may  have  amounted  to 
is,  perhaps,  to  be  judged  by  a  similar  claim  to  glory 
of   his   son   Samas-Rimmon,  Samsi-Bin,  or   Samsi- 

10  According  to  Sayce  and  Menant  ;  Smith  has  '  Syria. ' 

11  The  people  of  Byblus  in  Phoenicia. 


92  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

Vul, ''  who,  in  a  great  inscription, 13  speaks  of  him- 
self, or  is  made  to  speak,  as 

'     .     .     .     the  mighty  king,  king  of  multitudes 
unequalled,     .     .     .     the  bearer  of  the  sceptre 
of  the  shrines,  the  descender  into  all  lands,     .     .     . 
.     .     .     the  trampler  on  the  world,     .     .     . 
the  receiver  of  the  tribute 
and  the  riches  of  all  regions.' 

In  that  inscription  he  tells  ns,  that  in  an  expedition 
against  the  Matai — the  Medes,  before  they  formed 
a  power,  and  perhaps  before  they  possessed  a  city 
deserving  the  name — he  destroyed  and  burned  '  as 
many  as  1,200  cities'  belonging  to  one  chief  or 
capital  city  alone.14  And  he  tells  us  many  things 
equally  or  almost  equally  false. 

His  son  Rimmon  -  Nirari,  Bin-Mrari,  or  Vul- 
Nirari,  a  contemporary  of  Jeroboam  II.  and  Amos, 
among  other  achievements  boasts  of  the  following:" 

'  From  over  the  river  Euphrates,  Syria,  and  Phoenicia,  the 

whole  of  it, 
Tyre,  Zidon,  Omri,]6  Edom,  and  Philistia, 
to  over  against  the  great  sea  of  the  setting  sun,  to- 
my  feet 

12  According  to  Sayce,  Schrader,  and  George  Smith,  respectively. 

13  See  Sayce's  rendering  in    Records  of  the  Past, '  vol.  i.  (second 
edition). 

14  Compare  'Records  of  the  Past,'  vol.  i.  p.  18,  with  Menant, 
'  Annales  des  rois  d'Assyrie,'  p.  122.  » 

15  See  George  Smith's  '  Assyrian  Eponym  Canon,'  pp.  115, 116. 

16  '  Mat'Huumrii,'  or  Israel. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  93 

I    have  subjugated,  taxes    and    tribute   over    them    I 

fixed.     To 
Syria  I  went.     Mariha,  king  of  Syria, 
in  Damascus,  his  royal  city,  I  besieged  him  ; 
fear  and  terror  of  Assur,  his  lord,  overwhelmed  him  and 

my  yoke  he  took, 
submission  he  made,  2,300  talents  of  silver,  20  talents  of 

gold,     .     .     . 
.     .     .     in  Damascus,  his  royal  city,  in  his  palace,  I 

received.' 

Whatever  of  this  is  true,  and  was  a  fact  or  an 
imminent  event  when  Amos  announced  ruin  to 
Tyre,  to  Israel,  to  Edom,  to  Philistia, "  serves  to  ex- 
plain the  simultaneous  victories  of  Jeroboam  II. 
over  Syria  —  achieved,  perhaps,  at  the  price  of 
a  voluntary  tribute  to  the  Assyrian  king  —  the 
prophet's  disgust  at  the  undisturbed  tranquillity 
of  the  people  of  Zion  and  Samaria  while  a  storm 
was  approaching  from  the  north,  and  his  prediction 
that  what  had  been  gained  'from  Hamath  to  the 
Brook  of  the  Steppe'  was  going  to  be  lost,  and 
much  more  with  it.  It  appears,  however,  that  he 
spoke  at  a  time  when  the  peril  was  still  distant,  and 
discernible  only  by  the  eye  of  the  wise — that  is, 
before  Assyria  had  made  Damascus  to  bend  before 
her ;  for  he  only  threatens  Damascus,  and  speaks  of 
Assyria,  without  ever  naming  her,  as  '  a  nation '  that 
is  still  to  be  brought  on  by  Jehovah,  for  the  chas- 

17  See  above. 


94  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

tisement  of  his  people.  When  Hosea,  Amos'  s 
younger  contemporary,  harangued  the  people  of 
Samaria,  the  connection  between  that  capital  and 
the  conquering  rulers  of  Assyria  had  long  been 
established.  He,  as  we  shall  see,  repeatedly  alludes 
to  Assyria,  as  a  ruling  power. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  95 


XXVIII. 

The  last  three  chapters  of  the  book  of  Amos 
are  different  in  character  from  the  first  six.  The 
prophet  relates  visions : 

(Amos  VII.) 

(1)  This  the  Lord  Jehovah  showed  me: 
behold,  he  formed  locusts, 
■when  the  second  crop  began  to  spring  up; 
and  lo,   there  Avas  a  second   crop    after  the   king's 

mowing, 
and  when  they  had  wholly  eaten  up  the  herbage   of 

the  land, 
I  said,  '  0  Lord  Jehovah,  forgive,  I  pray; 
how  can  Jacob  stand  ? — he  is  so  small.' 
Jehovah  repented  of  this; 
'  Be  it  not/  said  Jehovah. 

This  the  Lord  Jehovah  showed  me: 
behold,  he  summoned  the  fire  to  chastise1 — 
he,  the  Lord  Jehovah — 
and  it  devoured  the  great  deep, 
and  it  devoured  the  field. 
(5)  And  I  said,  '  0  Lord  Jehovah,  leave  off,  I  pray; 
how  can  Jacob  stand  ? — he  is  so  small.' 
Jehovah  repented  of  this; 

1  Literally,  perhaps,  '  he  summoned  (the  fire)  to  chastise  with  fire 
(Keil). 


96  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

'  Even  this  be  not,'  said  the  Lord  Jehovah. 

This  he  showed  me: 
behold,  the  Lord  stood  on  a  wall  made  with  a  plumb- 
line, 
holding  a  plumb-line  in  his  hand. 
And  Jehovah  said  to  me, 
'  What  seest  thou,  Amos  ? ' 
I  answered,  '  A  plumb-line ;' 
and  the  Lord  said, 
'  Behold,  I  place  a  plumb-line 
in  the  midst  of  Israel,  my  people; 
I  will  not  pass  by  it  any  more. 
Isaac's  high-places  shall  be  laid  waste, 
and  Israel's  sanctuaries  destroyed, 
and  against  Jeroboam's  house  I  will  rise  with  the 
sword. ' 

Such  language  was  too  strong  for  the  authorities 
to  listen  to  with  patience.  Amaziah,  therefore,  the 
priest  of  Beth-El,  where  Amos  declared  his  vision, 
sent  this  message  to  King  Jeroboam :  '  Amos  con- 
spires against  thee  in  the  midst  of  the  house  of 
Israel;  the  land  is  unable  to  bear  all  his  words. 
For  thus  says  Amos:  "Jeroboam  will  die  by  the 
sword,  and  Israel  will  be  driven  from  his  land  into 
captivity."  '  And  to  Amos  he  said,  'Seer,  go  and 
flee  to  the  land  of  Judah,  and  there  eat  bread,  and 
there  prophesy ;  but  prophesy  no  more  at  Beth-El, 
for  it  is  a  royal  sanctuary,  and  a  seat  of  royalty.' 
But  Amos  answered,  '  I  am  no  prophet,  nor  a 
prophet's  son  ;  for  I  am  a  shepherd,  and  a  plucker 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  97 

of  sycamore-fruit.  But  Jehovah  took  me  as  I  fol- 
lowed the  flock,  and  Jehovah  told  me,  ' '  Go,  and 
prophesy  to  Israel,  my  people."  And  now,  hear 
Jehovah's  word: 

(VII.  16,  17.) 

Thou  sayest, '  Prophesy  not  against  Israel, 

and  preach  not  against  the  house  of  Isaac:' 

therefore  thus  says  Jehovah: 

'  Thy  wife  shall  be  a  harlot  in  the  city, 

thy  sons  and  daughters  shall  fall  by  the  sword, 

thy  land  shall  be  divided  by  the  line, 

thyself  shalt  die  on  impure  earth, 

and  Israel  shall  be  driven  from  his  land  into  captivity.' 

If  the  vision  given  above  and  the  interesting  his- 
torical episode  attached  to  it  are  at  their  right  place 
in  the  book — and  there  is  no  reason  to  assume  the 
contrary — neither  Amaziah  nor  Jeroboam  was  pro- 
voked by  these  extraordinary  onslaughts  to  lay  a 
sacrilegious  hand  upon  the  man  of  God  from  Judah. 
On  the  contrary,  it  seems  probable  that  he  was 
allowed  to  go  on  with  his  fiery  preaching  in  the 
northern  kingdom ;  for  against  the  latter  he  con- 
tinues to  inveigh,  and  no  change  of  tone  or  topic, 
such  as  would  result  from  a  change  of  place  or  audi- 
ence, is  perceptible  in  his  words,  as  the  following 
will  show : 

(VIII.) 

(1)  This  the  Lord  Jehovah  showed  me: 
behold,  a  basket  of  ripe  fruit. 


98  THE    HISTORICAL  POETRY 

He  said,  '  What  seest  thou,  Amos  ? ' 
I  answered,  'A  basket  of  ripe  fruit.' 
And  Jehovah  said  to  me, 
'  Ripe  is  the  end  for  Israel,  my  people; 
I  will  not  pass  by  it  any  more. 
The  palace  songs  shall  be  wails  in  that  day ' — 
the  Lord  Jehovah's  utterance — 
'  plenty  of  carcasses, 
thrown  out  everywhere,  in  silence  ! ' 
Hear,  ye  who  pant  for  the  needy, 
pant  to  destroy  the  meek  of  the  earth; 
(5)  who  say,  '  When  will  the  new  moon  be  over, 
that  we  may  sell  grain? 

the  sabbath,  that  we  may  bring  out  corn  ? ' — 
making  the  ephah  small,  and  the  shekel  large, 
and  falser  still  the  scales  of  deceit, 
so  as  to  buy  the  poor  for  money, 
and  the  needy  for  a  pair  of  shoes2 — 
'  the  refuse  of  corn  we  will  sell.' 
Jehovah  swears  by  Jacob's  glory: 3 
'  If  I  ever  forget  any  of  their  deeds.     .     .     .' 
Shall  not  the  land  tremble  for  this, 
and  every  dweller  on  it  mourn, 
and  all  of  it  swell  like  the  Nile, 
and  heave  and  sink  like  Egypt's  stream  ? 

'  In  that  day ' — 
the  Lord  Jehovah's  utterance — 
'  I  make  the  sun  go  down  at  noon, 

2  See  above,  XXVI.,  note  2. 

3  by  Jacob's  glory]    By  himself;  cf.  '  Israel's  power '  (I.  Sam.  xv.  29), 
and  Am.  iv.  2,  vi.  8. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  99 

and  I  darken  the  earth  in  the  bright  day; 
(10)  and  turn  your  feasts  into  mourning, 
and  all  your  songs  into  dirges; 
and  put  sack-cloth  upon  all  loins, 
and  baldness  upon  every  head; 
and  make  it  like  mourning  for  an  only  one, 
and  the  end  of  it  like  the  bitter  day.' 

'  Behold,  days  are  coming ' — 
the  Lord  Jehovah's  utterance — 
*  when  I  send  a  famine  into  the  land: 
not  a  famine  for  bread, 
nor  a  thirst  for  water, 
but  for  hearing  the  words  of  Jehovah; 
and  men  wander  from  sea  to  sea, 
and  from  the  north  to  the  east, 
roaming  about  in  search  of  Jehovah's  word, 
but  find  it  not.' 
In  that  day 

the  fair  maidens  and  the  youths  will  faint  for  thirst. 
They  who  swear  by  Samaria's  guilt,4 
and  say,  c  As  thy  Grod  lives,  0  Dan,     .     .     .     ' 5 
'  As  there  exists  a  way  to  Beer-Sheba,     .     .     . 
they  will  fall,  never  to  rise  again. 

4  by  Samaria's  guilt]  By  the  idols  of  the  kings  of  Samaria.  If  a 
special  idol  is  meant,  it  is  either  the  golden  calf  at  Beth-El — the 
principal  seat  of  worship  in  the  south  of  the  kingdom,  as  Dun,  on  the 
Phoenician  border,  was  in  the  north  (I.  Kings  xii.  28,  29) — or  Ashcrah, 
whose  image  stood  in  Samaria,  even  after  the  reign  of  Jehu  (II.  Kings 
xiii.  6).  Ashmah,  'guilt,'  as  has  been  remarked,  may  thus  allude  to 
Asherah. 

5  See  the  preceding  note. 

6  '  As    .     .     .     Beer-Steba ']    According  to  the  Masoretic  text — the 


100  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

The  visions  of  Amos  are  probably  of  a  date  later  by 
some  years  than  the  date  of  the  oracles  with  which 
he  started  'two  years  before  the  earthquake,' for 
they  seem  repeatedly  to  allude  to  that  event,  the 
terrors  of  which,  perhaps  augmented  by  volcanic 
eruptions,  were  long  remembered.7  Such  allusions 
can  be  discovered  above  in  the  pictures  of  the  fire 
summoned  to  chastise  and  devouring  the  great  deep, 
of  the  land  trembling  and  heaving  and  sinking,  and 
of  the  sun  going  down  at  noon  and  the  earth  darken- 
ing in  bright  day;  and  at  least  equally  distinct 
allusions  are  noticeable  in  the  following : 

(IX.) 

(1)  I  saw  the  Lord  standing  by  the  altar; 
he  said,  '  Strike  the  column-top, 
so  that  the  thresholds  shake, 
and  smash  them  over  the  heads  of  all — 
the  remaining  I  will  slay  with  the  sword; 
not  a  fugitive  shall  flee  away, 

phrase  alluding  to  the  pilgrimages  to  Beer-Sheba  already  spoken  of 
(v.  5).  The  words  'i-j-j  ifi  are,  however,  probably  a  corruption  of 
T3"IK  Tli  or  ()f  T^"1  Tli  perhaps  a  popular  phrase,  in  which  the 
N  of  "pIN  was  swallowed  as  the  i  is  in  "itfD  (for  "1K*0)  and  the  V 

in  nptwi  (for  nyptwi) in  verse  8  of  the  same  cnaPter-  Wf-  T3n3K 

and  "Opo;  "03,  for  "OJD,  Mic-  L  10=  CniDH.  for  QirOffli  Eccl- 
iv.  14;  c^Dirii  for  CETUSTIi  n-  Clir-  xxii-  5*>  and  ID'  for  TJ& 
Ezek.  xxxiii.  30.)  Our  verse  will  thus  have  contained  this  perfect 
parallelism:  'As  thy  God  lives,  0  Dan,  .  .  .  ," As  thy  Lord 
lives,  Beer-Sheba,  .  .  .'  (The  Sept.  has  twice,  6$e6s  dov.) 
1  See  Zech.  xiv.  5. 


OF  TIIE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  101 

not  a  survivor  escape. 
If  they  dig  into  hell, 
thence  my  hand  takes  them; 
if  they  climb  up  to  heaven, 
thence  I  bring  them  down; 
if  they  conceal  themselves  on  Carmel's  head,8 
I  search,  and  take  them  thence  ; 
if  they  hide  from  my  sight  on  the  floor  of  the  sea, 
thence  I  command  the  serpent  to  bite  them; 
and  if  they  go  into  captivity  before  their  foes, 
thence  I  command  the  sword  to  slay  them — 
I  set  my  eye  upon  them  for  evil, 
not  for  good.' 
(5)      And  that  is  the  Lord  Jehovah  of  Hosts, 
at  whose  touch  the  earth  melts, 
and  all  who  dwell  on  it  mourn, 
and  all  of  it  swells  like  the  Nile, 
and  it  sinks  like  Egypt's  stream; 
who  builds  his  roof-chambers  in  heaven, 
and  has  founded  his  vault  over  the  earth; 
who  summons  the  waters  of  the  sea, 
and  pours  them  over  the  surface  of  the  earth — 
Jehovah  is  his  name. 

i  Are  ye  not  as  the  sons  of  the  Ethiopians  to  me, 
ye  sons  of  Israel.  ? ' — 
Jehovah's  utterance — 
'ILvVe   I  not  brought  up  Israel  from  the  land  of 

Egypt, 
and  the  Philistines  from  Caphtor,9 

8  Which  juts  out  into  the  sea,  south  of  Acre. 

9  According  to  most  modern  commentators,  Crete ;  according  to 


102  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

and  the  Syrians  from  Kir  ? 10 
Behold,  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  Jehovah 
are  upon  this  sinful  kingdom, 

and  I  will  destroy  it  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth, 
but  I  will  not  utterly  destroy  the  house  of  Jacob  '— 
Jehovah's  utterance. 
'  For,  behold,  I  command, 

and  the  house  of  Israel  is  shaken  among  all  nations, 
as  shaking  is  done  with  a  sieve, 
so  that  not  a  grain  falls  to  the  earth; 
by  the  sword  shall  die  all  the  sinners  of  my  people, 
they  who  say,  "  The  evil  will  not  overtake  us  or  get 
before  us." ' 

To  these  prophetic  threatenings  are  attached,  as 
consolatory  words  at  the  conclusion  of  the  book,  a 
few  verses  composed  in  a  spirit  and  a  style  widely 
different  from  the  spirit  and  style  of  Amos,  and  ex- 
pressive of  conditions  and  hopes  little  in  accord 
with  what  we  know  of  the  circumstances  of  Judah 
and  Israel  in  the  times  of  Uzziah  and  Jeroboam  II. 
Those  verses  bear  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  con- 
cluding portions  both  of  Joel  and  Zephaniah,  and 
especially  to  that  of  the  former  book,  a  somewhat 
different  duplicate  of  a  verse  of  which  is  also  to  be 
found,  entirely  unconnected,  at  the  very  head  of  the 

Ebers  and  Dietrich,  a  region  of  northern  Egypt.     See  note  H,  at  the 
end  of  the  volume. 

10  See  note  E,  at  the  end  of  the  volume. — The  meaning  of  the  verse 
seems  to  be:  The  exodus  from  Egypt  proves  no  special  privilege; 
other  nations,  and  Cushites  ('  Ethiopians ')  among  them,  like  the 
Philistines,  have  achieved  similar  migrations  under  divine  guidance. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  1()3 

book  of  Amos.11  It  is  barely  possible  that  a  differ- 
ent version  of  the  verse  in  Joel  was  originally  at- 
tached to  the  end  of  that  book  as  a  note,  and  was 
thence  transferred  by  mistake  to  the  head  of  the 
first  page  of  Amos,  which  follows  in  the  collection  ; 
but  it  is  probable  that  the  consolatory  portion 
added  to  the  stern  prophecies  of  the  shepherd  from 
Tekoa  was  intentionally  placed  there  by  one  of  the 
collectors  of  the  Minor  Prophets,  in  order  to  wind 
up  the  book  with  predictions  of  lasting  prosperity 
and  peace.  Somewhat  similar  insertions  have  been 
made  at  the  end  of  various  books  of  the  Scriptures.18 
In  this  case  a  preceding  piece  of  Joel,  perhaps  also 
a  duplicate,  seems  to  have  been  made  use  of  by  the 
collector,  who  possibly  doubted  its  authorship. 

11  Compare  Joel  iv.  16  (iii.  16)  with  Am.  i.  2. 

12  See  note  I,  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 


104  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 


XXIX. 

The  shepherd  from  Judah  who  came  to  Beth-El 
in  Israel,  in  the  reign  of  Jeroboam  II.,  and  revealed 
a  vision  in  which  Jehovah  commanded  the  break- 
ing of  the  great  altar  of  that  royal  city,  was,  some 
two  centuries  later,  transformed  in  a  legend  for  the 
people  into  an  unnamed  prophet  from  Judah  who 
made  a  similar  announcement,  at  the  same  place, 
under  Jeroboam  I.1 — that  is,  about  a  century  and  a 
half  before  Amos.  The  story2  runs  thus  :  Jeroboam 
ordained  a  feast  in  the  eighth  month,  on  the  fifteenth 
day  of  the  month,  like  the  feast  that  was  celebrated 
in  Judah,  and  himself  officiated  at  the  altar  in 
Beth-El,  sacrificing  to  one  of  the  calves  that  he  had 
made.  Now,  as  he  had  ascended  the  steps  of  the 
altar,  to  burn  incense,  there  suddenly  came  a  man 
of  God  from  Judah,  by  the  word  of  Jehovah,  and 
cried  against  the  altar,  'O  altar,  altar,  thus  says 
Jehovah,  "Behold,  a  child  shall  be  born  to  the 
house  of  David,  Josiah  by  name,  and  he  shall  offer 
on  thee  the  priests  of  the  high-places  who  burn 
incense  on  thee  ;  and  men's  bones  shall  be  burnt  on 
thee."  '     And  he  also  gave  a  sign,  saying,  'This  is 

1  See  E.  Meier,  '  Geschichte  der  poetischen  National-Literatur  der 
Hebraer,'  pp.  274,  275. 
s  I.  Kings  xii.  32-xiii.  6. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  1()5 

the  sign  that  it  is  Jehovah's  word:3  behold,  the 
altar  will  be  rent,  and  the  ashes  which  are  on  it  will 
be  poured  out.'  When  King  Jeroboam  heard  this 
he  stretched  out  his  hand,  exclaiming,  '  Seize  him  ! ' 
But  the  hand  became  stiff,  so  that  he  could  not  take 
it  back.  And  the  altar  was  rent,  and  the  ashes  were 
poured  out,  and  the  king's  hand  was  restored  to 
him  only  at  the  prophet' s  intercession  with  Jehovah. 
This  legend  of  the  transformed  Amos  is  supple- 
mented4 by  a  very  strange  story  of  the  end  of  the 
unnamed  prophet,  which  reveals  the  narrator's  ex- 
ceedingly crude  notions  of  the  workings  of  the 
spirit  of  Jehovah,  and,  at  the  conclusion,  also  Ms 
ignorance  of  history,  inasmuch  as  he  makes  one 
of  the  actors  in  his  tale  speak  of  Samaria,  a  city 
which  was  built  in  the  fourth  reign  after  Jero- 
boam. b 

That  mythical  man  of  God  from  Judah  is  as  un- 
like the  shepherd  from  Tekoa  as  the  prophets  of 
the  historical  books  of  the  Bible,  from  Joshua  to 
Chronicles,  generally  are  unlike  the  prophets  whose 
writings  have  been  preserved.  Miracle-working 
and  miraculously  precise  revelations  of  the  future 
form  the  main  element  in  the  stories :  the  work 
of  the  Canonical  prophets  is  exhortation,  warn- 
ing, and  comforting,  based  on  universal  principles 

3  Literally,  that  Jehovah  has  spoken  (De  Wette,  Thenius),  not  wJtieh 
Jehovah  has  spoken. 

4  I.  Kings  xiii.  7-32. 

b  See  I.  Kings  xvi  23,  24. 


106  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

and  vaguely  adapted  to  the  present  and  future.0 
There  are  exceptions  on  the  one  side  and  on  the 
other,  but  they  are  insignificant,  and  the  distinctive 
features  are  as  striking  as  possible.  Amos,  though 
probably  the  oldest,  and  surely  one  of  the  oldest,  of 
the  prophets  who  left  us  more  than  a  fragment  or  a 
piece  of  uncertain  date,7  is  an  admirable  specimen 
of  the  Canonical  class.  He  does  not,  like  Samuel, 
address  his  sinful  audience  thus :  '  Now  stand  and 
see  this  great  thing,  which  Jehovah  does  before 
your  eyes  :  is  it  not  wheat  harvest  to-day  ?  I  will 
call  to  Jehovah,  and  he  will  send  thunder  and  rain ; 
that  ye  may  perceive  and  see  that  your  wickedness 
is  great.' 8  He  does  not,  like  Elijah,  step  before  the 
king  of  Samaria  with  such  words :  '  As  Jehovah, 
the  God  of  Israel,  lives,  before  whom  I  stand,  there 
shall  be  no  dew  nor  rain  these  years,  except  accord- 
ing to  my  word ;' J  nor  does  he,  like  him,  challenge 
the  prophets  of  Baal  to  a  contest  of  prayer  in  which 
fire  from  heaven  is  to  decide  whether  that  god  of  the 
Phoenicians  or  Jehovah  is  the  God.10  He  does  not 
claim  the  power,  which  Elisha  exercised,  of  divid- 
ing a  river,  healing  unwholesome  water  and  deadly 

6  For  full  light  on  the  subject,  see  chapters  iii.,  iv.,  ix.,  x.,  xi.(  and 
xii.  of  Kuenen's  '  Prophets  and  Prophecy  in  Israel.' 

1  Some  critics  consider  Joel,  and  others  Obadiah,  the  oldest  of  the 
Canonical  prophets. 

8 1.  Sam.  xii.  16,  17. 

9 1.  Kings  xvii.  1. 

10  L  Kincrs  xviii. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  107 

pottage,  calling  oat  bears  for  vengeance,  raising  the 
dead,  curing  and  inflicting  leprosy,  or  smiting  with 
blindness."  He  makes  no  allusion  whatever  to  any 
miraculous  power  imparted  to  man.  All  that  he 
claims  for  himself  and  other  prophets,  as  a  distinc- 
tion, is  the  power  and  the  readiness  to  hear  and 
understand  when  Jehovah  speaks.  '  The  Lord  Je- 
hovah does  naught  without  revealing  his  secret  to 
the  prophets,  his  servants.  .  .  .  The  Lord  Jeho- 
vah has  spoken — who  should  not  prophesy  % '  Nay, 
he  even  protests  against  the  appellation  '  prophet ' 
as  personally  applicable  to  him.  He  is  '  neither  a 
prophet  nor  a  prophet's  son' — that  is,  neither  a 
member  nor  a  young  associate  of  a  prophetic  guild. 
He  has  nothing  in  common  with  prophets  by  trade. 
He  announces  Jehovah's  words  with  the  fullest  of 
convictions  ;  but  it  is  not  an  angel  that  has  brought 
it  to  him,  nor  has  the  Lord  spoken  to  him  mouth  to 
mouth.  Has  he  heard  Jehovah's  voice  in  a  state  of 
ecstasy,  in  a  trance  ?  He  believes  it  perhaps,  he 
does  not  state  it.  The  visions  which  he  relates  are 
mere  figures,  symbolic  expressions  of  natural  con- 
ceptions. He  knows  the  word  of  God,  for  he  knows 
what  God,  by  his  very  essence,  is  bound  to  speak. 
When  great  national  crimes  strike  his  eyes,  he 
hears  a  divine  voice  crying,  'Woe  to  the  nation,' 
and  he  announces  woe.  '  The  Lord  Jehovah  swears 
foy  his  holiness'' — the  destruction  of  the  wicked  and 

11  II.  Kings  ii.,  iv.-vi. 


108  TILE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

arrogant  is  vouchsafed  by  his  holiness.  It  is  an 
evil  time,  but  some  reflect  in  silence,  and  the  people 
may  repent :  Amos  hears  Jehovah  saying  to  the 
house  of  Israel,  '  Seek  me,  and  live.'  The  powerful 
go  on  oppressing  and  extorting:  'shall  not  the 
land  tremble  for  this,  and  every  dweller  on  it 
mourn?'  And  there  is  no  escape  from  the  ven- 
geance of  the  Lord :  his  omnipotence  dominates  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  heaven,  and  hell ;  the  earth  melts 
at  his  touch.  But  though  his  eyes  are  on  the  sinful 
kingdom  for  destruction,  the  just — this  is  Jehovah's 
utterance,  it  must  be  this — the  just  shall  escape ; 
not  a  good  grain  shall  fall  to  the  ground  when  the 
house  of  Israel  is  shaken  in  the  sieve.  When  is 
destruction  to  come,  and  salvation  when?  Unlike 
the  men  whose  false  pictures  credulity  or  pious 
deception  wrote  into  the  books  of  Israelitish  his- 
tory— distorting  it  to  the  confusion  of  the  human 
mind— - Amos  predicts  no  precise  dates,  has  no  vision 
of  a  name — Josiah  or  other — has  no  definite  future ; 
his  vague  outlines  agree  with  his  image  of  God,  and 
he  has  no  other  revelations  to  make.  If  he  alludes 
to  Assyria,  that  power  stands  menacing  beyond  the 
border.  If  he  threatens  deportation  beyond  Damas- 
cus, it  is  a  thing  that  is  naturally  to  be  expected. 
If  he  predicts  a  dire  fate  to  the  priest  Amaziah  and 
his  household,  it  is  an  outburst  of  indignation  in 
the  figurative  form  of  a  curse.  Was  the  prediction 
fulfilled  %  Evidently  not ;  but  neither  was  it  meant 
to  be  fulfilled.     What  Amos  expressed  by  it  was 


OF  THE  AJS'CIENT  HEBREWS.  109 

that  Amaziah,  by  serving  the  tyrant  of  Samaria  and 
the  idol  of  Beth-El,  deserved  such  a  fate.  Truly, 
were  all  the  rest  of  the  Old  Testament  lost,  our  idea 
of  Hebrew  prophecy,  drawn  from  the  little  book  of 
Amos  alone,  would  be  much  higher  than  the  idea  of 
it  which  we  receive  from  the  whole  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, in  which,  side  by  side  with  the  sublime  ad- 
dresses of  Amos,  and  Hosea,  and  Micah,  and  Isaiah, 
and  kindred  men,  so  much  room  has  been  given  to 
popular  stories  of  an  opposite  character. 

And  what  a  historical  revelation  would  that  little 
book  alone  be  to  us,  if  all  the  rest  of  Hebrew 
literature  were  lost !  It  carries  us  back  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  eighth  century  B.C.,  into  a  south- 
western corner  of  Asia.  At  that  time,  as  we  know 
from  other  sources,  the  divinities  of  Asia  Minor, 
like  those  of  the  neighboring  Hellas,  were  num- 
berless, and  the  wisest  men,  perhaps,  in  those  coun- 
tries believed  the  highest  of  their  gods  and  god- 
desses to  be  manlike  beings,  ruled  by  passions  and 
whims,  by  lust,  envy,  and  hatred.  Egypt  swarmed 
with  horrid  personifications  of  deified  powers  of 
nature,  and  her  abominations  were  countless.  Two 
rulers  of  the  then  most  powerful  Semitic  nation,  the 
Assyrian  kings  Slialmaneser  II.  and  his  son — called 
Samas  -  Rimmon  or  otherwise  —  had  but  recently 
erected  monuments  in  the  inscriptions  of  which  the 
former  invoked  Assur,  '  king  of  all  the  assembly  of 
the  great  gods ' ;  Anu,  '  king  of  the  spirits  of  heaven 
and  earth ' ;  Bel,  '  the  father  of  the  gods,  the  deter- 


IK)  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

miner  of  destinies';  Hea,  'king  of  the  abyss  of 
chaos1;  the  Sun-God,  '  the  judge  of  mankind';  and 
Istar,  '  the  queen  of  war  and  battle '  ;12  and  the  latter 
a  god,13  'first-born  of  Bel,'  'offspring  of  the  sanctu- 
ary,' and  'receiver  of  the  instructions  of  Ann  and 
the  Great  Goddess.'  u  The  altars  of  Sidon  and 
Tyre,  erected  to  similar  divinities,  reeked  with 
human  blood.  In  the  land  of  the  Hebrews  them- 
selves the  Phoenician  Baal  and  the  Phoenician 
Asherah  had  fanatical  votaries.  And  in  the  midst 
of  such  surroundings  that  little  book  shows  us 
a  man  addressing  an  assemblage  in  a  royal  city 
of  the  small  kingdom  of  Israel,  and  exhorting  it 
to  repentance  and  abhorrence  of  evil  in  the  name 
of  a  God  whose  attributes  are  omnipotence  and 
holiness  —  Jehovah  is  his  name.  That  God  has 
no  associates,  works  not  through  spirits  or  angels, 
and  demands  no  temple  or  altar.  He  abhors  the 
people's  feasts  and  holy  gatherings,  their  burnt- 
offerings  and  flour-offerings,  their  songs  and  harp- 
music.  All  he  asks  of  them  is  to  'let  justice 
flow  as  waters,  and  righteousness  as  a  perennial 
stream ;  to  hate  evil  and  love  the  good.'  He 
detests  iniquity  and  profligacy,  avenges  the  meek 
and  down-trodden,  and  will  destroy  the  wielders 
of  power  who   'turn  right  into  poison,   and  the 

12  'Records  of  the  Past,'  vol.  iii.  p.  83. 

13  His  name  is  variously  read  as  Adar,  Nin-ip,  Bar,  and  Ussur 
(Sayce). 

14  'Records  of  the  Past,'  vol.  i.  pp.  11,  12. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  m 

fruit  of  righteousness  into  wormwood.'  He  rules 
all  the  nations,  and  decrees  the  doom  of  Moab  for 
an  inhuman  crime  against  Edom ;  and  if  Israel  is 
his  chosen  people,  it  is  not  a  favorite  enjoying  privi- 
leges, but  a  follower  bound  to  stricter  observance  of 
duty,  and  subject  to  sterner  reprobation  and  pun- 
ishment. The  man  who  speaks  in  his  name — often 
rendering  his  words  as  if  the  speaker  were  merely 
an  instrument — appeals  to  no  other  title  but  his 
inner  light  and  feeling;  he  relies  for  protection 
neither  on  heavenly  miracles  nor  on  earthly  favor ; 
in  his  denunciations  he  assails  the  highest  most 
fiercely ;  he  promises  no  paradise,  and  threatens 
with  no  hell ;  his  only  weapon  is  the  awe  which  the 
image  of  his  God  is  apt  to  inspire ;  his  means  of 
persuasion,  the  touching  of  the  conscience  with  the 
burning  word  of  truth ;  if  priests  and  princes 
frown,  he  is  ready  to  seal  his  word  with  his  blood. 
But  he  is  spared  martyrdom.  The  people  and  their 
rulers  are  evidently  better  than  he  paints  them  in 
his  holy  passion. 

When  did  this  high  idealism  of  the  Hebrew  mind 
begin  to  germinate  \  How  was  it  nurtured,  and  how 
did  it  grow  %  Was  it  a  shoot  on  which  exceptional 
intellects  bestowed  an  exceptional  power  of  expan- 
sion %  Or  was  it  the  slow  product  of  a  tribal  in- 
stinct, sharpened  by  antagonism  %  We  search  in 
vain  for  answers  in  the  prophetic  literature  of  the 
people,  for  that  opens  with  the  ideal  development 
in  its  culmination.     Amos  is  in  purity  of  faith  and 


1X2  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

strength  of  sentiment,  as  in  boldness  of  expression 
and  clearness  of  diction,  the  equal  of  Isaiah,  though 
surpassed  by  him  in  breadth  of  view,  vivacity  of 
spirit,  and  poetical  loftiness.     Hosea  and  Micah  are 
between   them  in  time,  but  one  century  embraces 
them    all.      Nor  are  the  historical  books  of    the 
Hebrews  apt  to  satisfy  our  curiosity,  for  they,  as  we 
have  them,  are  of  later  origin,  and  thoroughly  per- 
vaded by  a  superstitious  belief  in  the  past  which 
mocks  at  all    inquiry  about    ethical  or   religious 
development.     According  to  them  the  Hebrews  of 
the  remotest  age  were  the  models  of  the  purest  vir- 
tue, and  the  receivers  of  divine  revelation,  and  the 
history  of  revelation  reaches  its  culminating  point 
in  Moses,  'like  whom  there  arose  not  since  a  prophet 
in  Israel.'     There  are,  of  course,  both  in  the  pro- 
phetical and  the  historical  books,  single  rays  of  light 
facilitating  rational  speculation  on  the  subject ;  but 
to  collect  them  into  a  focus,  systematize  the  inquiry, 
and  present  the  results  is  more  than  falls  within  the 
scope  of  this  book.     It  belongs  to  the  wider  sphere 
of  general  Israelitish  history,  or  to  a  special  branch 
of  it. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  UEBIiEWS.  113 


XXX. 

Amos  speaks  as  a  man  who  announces  the  word 
of  God :  the  prophet  is  not  lost  in  the  sender, 
though  the  utterances  of  the  one  and  the  other  are 
often  blended  together  without  a  distinguishing 
mark.  Amos' s  contemporary,  Hosea,  the  son  of 
Beeri,  gives  us  only  some  introductory  narratives  as 
his  own  words  :  the  rest  is  '  the  word  of  Jehovah  ' 
in  all  but  unbroken  streams,  the  prophet  disappear- 
ing almost  completely.  The  visions  of  Amos  are 
openly  figurative  presentations  of  prophetic  thought 
and  abstraction,  poetical  images  apt  to  enlighten  as 
symbols,  and  totally  unapt  to  create  an  illusion  of 
reality.  Hosea' s  parabolical  introductions  are  narra- 
tives of  common  life,  bearing  a  deceptive  semblance 
of  truth.  These  characteristics  tend  to  show  that 
the  younger  prophet  was  as  such  less  natural  than 
the  older,  or,  which  is  more  probable,  that  in  the 
writings  of  the  former  we  have  elaborations  in- 
tended to  be  read — in  public — and  in  the  work  of 
the  latter  mostly  half-improvised  addresses,  subse- 
quently condensed  and  cast  into  a  more  or  less 
poetical  shape.  What  is  certain  is  that  Hosea 
fully  equals  Amos  in  genuineness  and  intensity  of 
feeling,  that  he  surpasses  him  in  expressions  of 
sympathy  and  tenderness,  and  that  his  abhorrence 
of  falsehood  and  hypocrisy  is  a  burning  passion. 


114  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

In  Amos,  though  the  man  speaks,  we  always  hear 
the  judging  God,  ready  to  avenge  the  sufferings 
inflicted  on  the  meek  and  lowly,  as  infractions  of 
his  grand  universal  system  of  justice :  in  Hosea, 
through  whom  God  alone  speaks,  the  divine  rigor 
is  tempered  by  the  human  warmth  of  love  and  com- 
passion. Both  prophets  address  their  words  chiefly 
to  the  people  of  the  northern  Hebrew  kingdom,  but 
Amos  sees  it  before  him  in  the  time  of  its  greatest 
strength  and  prosperity,  and  Hosea  in  its  beginning 
and  gradually  advancing  decay.  The  former  was  a 
Judsean,  as  he  himself  tells  us  ;  the  latter  was  most 
probably  a  man  of  the  northern  kingdom,  as  his 
allusions  to  things  and  localities  amply  indicate. 

The  first  verse  of  the  book  of  Hosea  is  this :  '  The 
word  of  Jehovah  that  came  to  Hosea,  the  son  of 
Beeri,  in  the  days  of  Uzziah,  Jotham,  Ahaz,  and 
Hezekiah,  kings  of  Judah,  and  in  the  days  of  Jero- 
boam, the  son  of  Joash,  king  of  Israel.'  The 
superscription  may  be  the  prophet's  own,  but  the 
chronological  addition  to  it  is  probably  the  inser- 
tion of  a  late  collector,  and  hardly  accurate.  The 
latter  is  already  somewhat  suspicious  on  the  ground 
of  its  being,  as  far  as  the  kings  of  Judah  are  con- 
cerned, literally  identical  with  the  chronological 
statement  prefixed  to  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah,1 
and,  besides,  incomplete  in  its  synchronism,  for  the 
reign   of   Jeroboam  coincides    only   with    that    of 

1  Is.  i.  1. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBBEWS.  115 

Uzziah.  But  a  stronger  argument  against  its  au- 
thenticity is  found  by  critics  in  the  contents  of  the 
book,  which  do  not  indicate  an  extension  of  Hosea's 
activity  into  the  latest  period  of  the  history  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel,  during  which  Ahaz  and  Hezekiah 
reigned  in  Judah.  Certainty,  however,  on  this 
point  cannot  be  attained,  as  Hosea's  allusions  to 
political  events  and  conditions,  though  numerous, 
are  mostly  obscure,  as  is  also  to  a  great  extent  his 
diction  in  the  main  portions  of  his  book.  That  he 
began  to  utter  his  oracles  as  early  as  the  reign  of 
Jeroboam  II.,  as  stated,  is  almost  evident  from  the 
opening  chapters,  in  which  a  very  flourishing  con- 
dition of  the  kingdom  is  allegorically  depicted  as 
waning  or  soon  to  wane,  such  as  it  never  enjoyed 
after  the  death  of  that  monarch.  That  the  latter 
chapters  reflect  the  history  of  a  long,  subsequent 
period  of  distraction  and  disasters  is  undeniable. 
We  shall,  therefore,  hardly  go  amiss  if  we  assume 
that  the  time  on  which  Hosea  reflected  from  his 
own  observation  embraced,  chiefly  or  exclusively, 
some  three  or  four  of  the  early  and  middle  decades 
of  the  eighth  century  B.C.,  according  to  Biblical 
chronology.  The  history  of  that  time,  in  the  wider 
extent,  is  as  follows  : 

The  last  years  of  the  long  reign  of  Jeroboam  II. 
may  be  presumed  to  have  been  years  of  enervating 
prosperity,  such  as  continues  to  flow  from  the 
achievements  of  an  earlier,  more  vigorous  genera- 
tion, and  is  destined  to  be  gradually  exhausted  by 


116  THE  HISTORICAL   POETRY 

excess  or  suddenly  destroyed  by  unexpected  re- 
verses. Such  a  presumption  can  rationally  be  based 
on  the  previous  conditions,  the  king's  declining  age, 
and  the  disastrous  events  which  followed  his  death. 
Many  expositors,  founding  their  opinion  on  a  chro- 
nological discrepancy  in  the  Biblical  statements,5 
believe  that  Jeroboam's  power  was  not  directly  in- 
herited by  his  son  Zachariah,  and  that  an  anarchical 
interregnum  of  eleven  or  twelve  years  preceded  the 
latter  s  accession  to  the  throne.  This  may  or  may 
not  have  been  the  case,  but  all  that  we  are  told3  of 
the  following  period  is  a  story  of  bloody  convul- 
sions, which  rapidly  precipitated  the  state  toward 
the  verge  of  ruin.     Zachariah,  after  a  reign  of  only 

2  '  The  statements  that  Jeroboam  II.  reigned  41  years  (2  K.  xiv.  23) 
after  the  15th  year  of  Amaziah,  who  reigned  29  years,  and  that 
Jeroboam's  son  Zachariah  came  to  the  throne  in  the  38th  year  of 
Uzziah  (2  K.  xv.  8),  cannot  be  reconciled  without  supposing  that 
there  was  an  interregnum  of  11  years  between  Jeroboam  and  his  son 
Zachariah.  And  almost  all  chronologists  accept  this  as  a  fact, 
although  it  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Bible.  Some  chronologists,  who 
regard  an  interregnum  as  intrinsically  improbable  after  the  prosper- 
ous reign  of  Jeroboam,  prefer  the  supposition  that  the  number  41 
in  2  K.  xiv.  23  ought  to  be  changed  to  51,  and  that  the  number  27  in 
xv.  1  should  be  changed  to  14.  and  that  a  few  other  corresponding 
alterations  should  be  made.'  (Smith's  '  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,'  art. 
'Israel,  Kingdom  of.')  Oppert  defends  the  correctness  of  the  con- 
flicting numbers  on  the  supposition  of  a  twelve  years'  interruption  in 
Jeroboam's  reign,  caused  by  foreign  invasion,  and  supports  his  view 
by  an  ingenious  conjecture  respecting  Is.  vii.  8.  (See  his  '  Salomon 
et  ses  successeurs, '  pp.  32-37.) 

:'  IT.  Kings  xv. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  117 

six  months,  fell  a  victim  of  a  conspiracy,  and  with 
him  the  house  of  Jehu  ended  in  blood,  as  it  had 
arisen.  The  head  of  the  conspiracy.  Shall uni,  was 
raised  to  the  throne,  but  kept  it  only  one  month. 
Menahem,  probably  a  commander  of  Zachariah's 
army,  marched  against  him  from  Tirzah,  victori- 
ously entered  Samaria,  slew  the  usurper,  and  made 
himself  king.  A  town4  near  Tirzah,  which  refused 
to  open  its  gates  to  Menahem,  was  taken,  and  all  its 
inhabitants,  and  with  them  those  of  the  surround- 
ing district,  were  put  to  the  sword,  amid  horrible 
atrocities.  During  this  reign,  which  lasted  a  little 
over  ten  years,  the  king  of  Assyria  entered  the 
country,  and  received  from  Menahem  a  thousand 
talents  of  silver,  for  which  he  promised  to  support 
him  on  the  throne,  and  soon  withdrew.  That  im- 
mense ransom  or  bribe  Menahem  extorted  from  his 
subjects  by  imposing  a  contribution  of  fifty  silver 
shekels  upon  every  man  of  wealth — that  is  to  say, 
on  sixty  thousand  people,  for  the  talent  contained 
three  thousand  shekels.  Menahem  was  succeeded 
by  Pekahiah,  his  son,  who,  after  two  years,  was 
murdered  in  his  palace  by  his  captain  Pekah,  the 
son  of  Remaliah,  and  the  murderer  reigned  in  his 
stead.  There  are  indications  in  the  partly  ill- 
worded — or,  more  probably,  ill-preserved — narrative 
of  II.  Kings,  here  abridged,  that  in  all  these  violent 

4  Instead  of  '  Tiphsah '  (nDDP))   which  is  the  Hebrew  name  of 
Thapsacus  on  the  Euphrates,  Thenius  reads  Tappuah  (mC'D)- 


118  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

changes  a  body-guard  of  Gileadites,  men  of  the 
valiant  tribe  of  Gad,  acted  a  very  conspicuous  part.0 
That  the  kings  of  Samaria  should  have  sought  to 
awe  the  proud  Ephraimites  into  obedience  by  a 
troop  of  well-paid  mercenaries  from  beyond  the 
Jordan  is  but  natural,  and  finally  the  time  had 
come  for  the  Gileadite  'pretorians'  to  seize  and 
give  away  the  crown.  During  all  this  time  two 
kings  occupied  the  throne  of  Judah  :  Uzziah,  or 
Azariah,  and  his  son  Jotham,  both  of  whom  are 
stated  in  Kings  to  have  done  '  what  was  right  in  the 
sight  of  Jehovah,  .  .  .  save  that  the  high-places 
were  not  removed,'  on  which  'the  people  sacrificed 
and  burned  incense,'  in  disregard  of  the  claims  of 
the  Solomonic  temple  to  be  the  only  legitimate 
sacrificial  spot — if  such  claims  were,  indeed,  raised 
by  the   priests   of    Jerusalem   at   so  early  a  date. 

B  The  name  of  Shallum's  father  is  Jabesh,  which  is  also  the  name 
of  a  town  in  Gilead,  or  else  Shallum  himself  is  designated  by  '  son  of 
Jabesh '  as  a  Jabeshite,  though  against  all  grammatical  analogy  in 
the  Scriptures  (see  note  J,  at  the  end  of  the  volume).  The  name  of 
Menahem's  father  is  Gadi  (the  Gadite),  if  ben-gadi,  with  which  Vne 
gil'ddlm  in  the  same  chapter  (verse  25)  is  to  be  compared,  does  not 
designate  Menahem  himself  as  a  Gadite.  Pekah,  in  attacking 
Pekahiah,  was  accompanied  by  fifty  Gileadites.  The  name  of  one 
of  the  two  men,  probably  officers  of  the  royal  guard,  who  are  men- 
tioned as  slain  with  Pekahiah  is  Argob,  which  is  also  the  name  of  a 
district  adjoining  Gilead.  The  name  of  the  other  is  Arieh  (the  lion), 
which  reminds  us  of  the  Gadites  who  joined  David,  according  to 
I.  Chron.  xii.  8, 'valiant  warriors  .  .  .  with  faces  of  lions.  (See 
Hitzig  on  Hos.  v.  8,  and  Thenius  on  II.  Kings  xv.  25.) 


OF  THE  AXCIENT  HEBREWS.  119 

Uzziah's  reign  lasted  half  a  century,  but  part  of  the 
time  Jotham  acted  as  regent  for  his  father,  who  was 
stricken  with  leprosy.  The  great  earthquake  men- 
tioned in  Amos6  and  Zechariah7  was  probably  the 
most  grievous  calamity  that  befell  Judah  during 
this  period,  which  seems  to  have  been  the  most 
prosperous  in  the  history  of  that  kingdom,  though 
we  may  not  accept  as  perfectly  exact  all  that  II. 
Chronicles8  tells  us  of  Uzziah's  achievements  in 
war  and  peace.  While  Ephraim — as  the  northern 
Hebrew  kingdom  was  now  frequently  designated 
from  its  leading  tribe — was  battling  with  the  declin- 
ing power  of  Damascus,  cringing  before  the  Assyrian 
conquerors,  and  writhing  with  intestine  convulsions, 
Judah  wisely  abstained  from  harassing  the  brother 
state,  was  successful  in  petty  contests  with  non- 
Hebrew  neighbors,  and  enjoyed  the  fruits  of  un- 
questioned dynastic  legitimacy. 

Hosea,  in  his  first  introductory  narrative,  speaks 
of  himself  in  the  third  person :  Jehovah  said  to 
him,  '  Go,  get  thee  a  wife  of  whoredom  and  chil- 
dren of  whoredom ;  for  the  land  runs  away  from 
Jehovah  in  whoredom.'  He  went  and  took  Gomer, 
the  daughter  of  Diblaim,9  and  she  bore  him  a  son. 


*  xiv.  5. 

8  xxvi. 

9  Gomer  .  .  .  Diblaim]  Symbolical  names,  expressive  of  ripe- 
ness and  sensuality.  Hitzig's  explanatory  remarks  are  striking: 
'Da  ^aJ  zur  Reife  bringen.  daber    audi  cntiriihnen  erst  aus  "]Q2 


120  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

Jehovah  then  said  to  him,  'Name  him  Jezreel,  for 
yet  a  little  while,  and  I  will  avenge  the  blood  of 
Jezreel 10  on  the  house  of  Jehn,  and  put  an  end  to 
the  kingdom  of  the  house  of  Israel;  and  in  that 
day  I  will  break  the  bow  of  Israel  in  the  valley  of 
Jezreel.'  Gomer  next  bore  a  daughter,  and  Jehovah 
said  to  Hosea,  '  Name  her  Unpitied,  for  I  will  not 
pity  any  more  the  house  of  Israel,  so  that  I  should 
keep  on  forgiving  them.  But  I  will  have  mercy  on 
the  house  of  Judah,  and  I  will  save  them  through 
Jehovah,  their  God,  and  not  save  them  through  bow 
and  sword  and  battle,  and  horses  and  horsemen.' 
Gomer  bore  another  boy,  and  Jehovah  said  to 
Hosea,  'Name  him  Not-my-People,  for  ye  are  not 
my  people,  and  I  belong  not  to  you.'  Then  follows 
the  application  of  the  allegory  to  the  apostate 
nation,  so  foolishly  enamored  of  strange  gods  : 

volUruUn  sich  abwandelt  (Ps.  57,  3.  vgl.  13.  6.):  so  scheint  Kraft 
der  Verbindung  mit  C"6d1  Gomer  das  Gegentheil  von  -^  (vgl. 
bill  ^P2  Jes.  18,  5.)  zu  sein.    Mit  ^§3  wiirde  aber  die  reife,  mann- 


o  y 


bare  Dime  bezeichnet;  gleichwie    y^    vom  Kinde  gesagt  wird  (s. 

auch  Hi.  15,  33.),  und  Cap.  3, 1.  n^'X  den  Verf.  auf  ntt^N  bringt. 
Cv3n  •  •  •  scheint  Kraft  des  Numerus  und  der  Bedeutung  von 
n^"i  ein  Bild  fiir  CITE*  zu  sein-  Wie  Weinstock  und  Feigen- 
baum  beisammenstehn,  so  fiihrte  dis  Traube  auf  die  Feigen  ;  und 
wenn  die  cb^l  da  und  dort  neben  die  CTD^  treten,  so  ist  gerade 
bei  Hosea  C^pa'i  ein  Attribut  der  Briiste  Cap.  9, 14." 

10  The  blood  shed  by  Jehu  r.t  Jezreel,  in  exterminating  the  house  of 
Ahab. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  \<$\ 

(HoSEi    II.) 

(4  [2])  '  Plead  ye  with  your  mother,  plead; 

for  she  is  not  my  wife, 

and  I  am  not  her  husband: 

let  her  put  away  her  whoredom  from  her  face, 

and  her  adultery  from  between  her  breasts; 
(5  [3])  lest  I  strip  her  naked, 

set  her  as  in  the  day  of  her  birth, 

put  her11  as  into  a  wilderness,12 

place  her  as  in  a  desert, 

and  let  her  die  with  thirst. 

Nor  have  I  mercy  on  her  children, 

for  they  are  children  of  whoredom; 

their  mother  practised  harlotry, 

she  Avho  bore  them  acted  shamefully. 

She  said,  "I  will  go  after  my  lovers, 

who  give  me  my  bread  and  my  water, 

my  wool  and  flax, 

my  oil  and  drinks." 

Therefore,  behold,  I  hedge   up   thy   way13  with 
thorns — 

n  put  her]    Heb.  STTIOKn;  cf-  C1NH  PS'  Ct0  CW>1  (Gen.  ii.  8). 

12  as  into  a  icilderness]  Heb.  "o~or<  f°r  "QIDDDj  as  m  ED  vl^ 
"D1DD  PilEnnS  (Ps-  cvi-  9)-  (See  note  K,  at  the  end  of  the 
volume.)  The  wilderness  into  which  Israel,  then  a  new-born  nation, 
was  led  by  Moses  is  here  alluded  to  ;  cf.  verse  17  (15)-  'as  in  the  days 
of  her  youth,  as  in  the  day  when  she  came  up  from  the  land  of 
Egypt.' 

1S  thy  way]  Heb.  "p"H,  probably  by  mistake  for  fOII*  her  wav» 
sec  the  context. 


122  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

I  form  a  wall  before  her, 
and  she  shall  not  find  her  paths. 
She  will  run  after  her  lovers, 
but  not  overtake  them; 
seek  them,  but  find  not; 
and  then  say,  "  Let  me  go  and  return 
to  my  former  husband, 
for  I  was  happier  then  than  now." 
(10  [8])  Nor  does  she  know 

that  /  gave  her  the  corn,  the  must,  and  the  oil; 
and  gave  her  plenty  of  silver, 
and  of  gold,  which  they  made  into  Baal.14 
Therefore  I  will  take  back  my  corn  in  its  time, 
and  my  must  in  its  season, 
and  snatch  away  my  wool  ar>d  my  flax, 
which  covered  her  nakedness. 
I  then  uncover  her  shame 
in  the  sight  of  her  lovers, 
and  none  rescues  her  from  my  hand. 
I  put  an  end  to  all  her  revelry, 
to  her  feasts,  new-moons,  and  sabbaths, 
and  all  her  festive  times. 
I  lay  waste  her  vine  and  her  fig-tree, 
of  which  she  said,  "  I  hold  these  as  rewards, 
given  me  by  my  lovers;" 
I  turn  them  into  a  forest, 
and  the  beasts  of  the  field  shall  devour  them. 
(15  [13])  And  I  visit  upon  her  the  clays  of  the  Baals, 
when  she  burned  incense  to  them, 

14  BaaT\    Here  an  expression  for  idols  in  general,  including  the 
golden  calves  (Hitzig,  Keil). 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  11KBRKWS.  J23 

adorned  herself  with  her  ring  and  necklace, 

walked  after  her  lovers, 

and  forgot  me ' — 

Jehovah's  utterance. 

'Therefore,  behold,  I  allure  her, 

and  lead  her  into  the  wilderness, 

and  speak  to  her  heart; 

I  give  her  her  vineyards  from  thence, 

and   the  Valley  of   Grief 10  for  an   entrance   <>f 

hope;16 
and   she   responds  there  as  in  the  days  of    her 

youth, 
as  in  the  day  when  she  came  up  from  the  land  of 

Egypt.' 
'  In  that  day  ' — 
Jehovah's  utterance — 
'thou  wilt  call,  "My  husband," 
and  no  more  call  to  me,  "  My  lord! "  ,T 
I  remove  from   her  mouth  1;<  the  names  of    the 

Baals — 
never  more  to  be  mentioned  by  their  name. 

15  In  the  original,  'emek  (valley  of)  'dfchor,  according  to  Josh.  vii. 
24-26  a  valley  near  Jericho,  which  received  its  name  from  the  stoning 
there  of  Achan  ('dkhdri),  whose  sacrilegious  theft  had  brought  grief 
upon  Israel. 

16  A  new  beginning,  under  happier  auspices,  is  here  promised  to 
the  repentant  nation :  vineyards  shall  blossom  on  the  very  border  of 
the  desert,  and  the  Valley  of  Grief  become  a  pleasant  defile  leading 
to  the  land  of  bliss. 

11  Heb.  ba'ali,  which  signifies  both  my  (marital)  lord  and  my  Baal. 
Kfrom  her  mouth]    Heb.  JTDO'  probably  by  mistake  for  "T"DO> 
from  thy  mouth. 


124  the  insromcAL  poetry 

(20  [18])  I  make  a  covenant  for  the  people,19  in  that  day, 

with  the  beasts  of  the  field, 

and  the  birds  of  heaven, 

and  the  creeping  creatures  of  the  earth; 

and  bow  and  sword  and  battle 

I  crush  out  of  the  land, 

and  make  men20  rest  in  security. 

And  I  betroth  thee  to  me  for  ever ; 

I  betroth  thee  in  righteousness  and  justice, 

in  mercy  and  compassion; 

I  betroth  thee  in  faithfulness, 

and  thou  shalt  recognize  Jehovah.' 
'  In  that  day  I  respond  ' — 

Jehovah's  utterance — 

'  I  respond  to  heaven, 

and  it  responds  to  the  earth, 

and  the  earth  responds  to  corn,  wine,  and  oil, 

and  these  respond  to  Jezreel.21 
(25  [23])  And  I  sow  this22  for  myself  in  the  land, 

and  I  pity  Unpitied, 

and  say  to  Not-my- People, 


19  for  the  people]     Literally,  for  them. 

20  men]     Literally,  them. 

21  This  is  a  picture  of  cosmic  harmony.  The  valley  of  Jezreel  asks 
its  seeds  and  plants  to  germinate  and  bud  ;  they  call  to  the  earth  for 
its  juices  ;  the  earth  implores  heaven  for  dew  and  rain  ;  heaven 
prays  to  God  for  the  word  which  unlocks  its  bounties  ;  and  God 
responds  in  mercy. 

28  this]  Literally,  her,  Jezreel,  here  representing  the  nation  ;  the 
meaning  of  the  fertile  valley's  name,  God  sows,  is  here  beautifully 
alluded  to  (Hitzig). 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  126 

"My  people  thou  art," 
and  he  says,  "  My  Uod."  ' 

And  to  this  closely  attaches  itself  the  following, 
which  is  obviously  misplaced  in  the  book,  and  is  a 
tit  conclusion  to  the  narrative  and  prophecy,  wind- 
ing them  up,  as  it  does,  with  a  promise  of  divine 
forgiveness  and  blessing  and  of  happy  reunion 
under  one  legitimate  head,  and  with  a  laconically 
powerful  call  to  the  people  of  Judah  to  receive  the 
returning  tribes  of  Israel  with  genuine  brotherly 
love : 

(II.  1-3  [I.  10,  11,  II.  1].) 

'  Then  the  multitude  of  the  sons  of  Israel 

shall  be  as  the  sand  of  the  sea, 

which  cannot  be  measured  nor  counted; 

and  then,  instead  of  their  being  told, 

"Ye  are  not  my  people," 

this  si  all  be  said  to  them: 

"Sons  of  the  living  God."23 

And  the  sons  of  Judah  and  the  sons  of  Israel 

shall  gather  together, 

and  appoint  themselves  one  head, 

23  the  living  God]  Heb.  "TT^Ni  f°r  which,  however,  ^n?K>  mV 
God,  ought  apparently  to  be  substituted,  the  meaning  of  the  sen- 
tence being:  Judah,  who  formerly  spurned  the  seceded  ten  tribes  as 
not  belonging  to  his  people,  will  now  recognize  them  as  the  children 
of  his  own  God,  and  therefore  brethren  in  the  best  sense.     Compare 

"•DJ?  and  ^ri/N  at  tlie  encl  of  cl1-  u- 


126  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

and  march  onward  from  the  land;  " 
for  great  is  the  day  of  Jezreel. — 
.  Say  ye  to  your  brothers,  "  My  people;" 
and  to  your  sisters,  "Pitied."  ' 

But  that  great  day,  in  which  the  bow  of  Israel 
was  to  be  broken  for  the  benefit  of  Judah,  who  was 
then  to  clasp  to  his  bosom  the  brothers  who  had 
gone  astray,  never  dawned.  The  house  of  Jehu 
may  possibly  have  fallen  by  blows  struck  in  the 
valley  of  Jezreel,  but  it  was  a  conspirator  who 
reaped  the  fruits  of  the  victory,  and  the  bow  of 
Israel  was  broken  much  later,  and  for  ever,  by  the 
Assyrian :  the  reunion  of  Judah  and  Israel  remained 
an  unfulfilled  dream.  Hosea  probably  cherished 
that  dream — to  him  an  expectation  based  on  the 
love  of  Jehovah  to  his  people — to  the  end  of  his 
days  ;  the  last  chapter  of  his  book  is  radiant  with 
tender  hope  for  Ephraim.  But  the  latter  parts  of 
the  book  show  that  he  long  survived  the  day  which 
was  to  restore  the  throne  of  David,  both  for  Judah 
and  Israel,  on  the  ruins  of  the  house  of  Jehu, 
crumbled  at    Jezreel.      And  if    he  himself,   as    is 

24  To  the  conquest  of  the  lands  of  their  hostile  neighbors,  their  own 
being  insufficient  for  their  prodigious]}-  increased  multitudes.  Ewald 
compares  Is.  xi.  13,  14,  and  ]\Iic.  ii.  12,  13.  Y?y\  in  the  verse  before 
us,  is  used,  like  n  /V  m  -^c-  "•  ^>  m  tae  sense  0I"  marching  up  to 
battle,  without  regard  to  geographical  altitude;  "p/%  in  the  sense  of 
descending  to  battle,  equally  disregards  the  location  of  the  battle-field; 
in  I.  Sam.  xxix.,  therefore,  Han^ED  "IjOJ?  "TT  vh  (verse  4)  and 
nEH^OZ  ^112])  HI/IT  frsv  (verse  9)  are  interchangeable  expressions. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  127 

generally  and  reasonably  assumed,  formed  his  col- 
lection of  prophecies  into  a  whole,  the  fact  that  he 
left  the  unfulfilled  prediction  of  the  day  of  Jezreel 
unrevised  is  an  illustration  —  among  many  others 
—  of  the  manner  in  which  the  prophets  viewed 
their  foretellings    in  the  name  of  Jehovah :    The 
details  of  prophecy  were  not  meant  to  be  under- 
stood in  their  literal  sense  ;  only  a  general  idea  was 
inculcated,  and  a  vague  vista  exhibited,  in  holy 
earnest.     The  'word  of  God,'  as  we  find  it  in  the 
prophetic  canon,  was  an  announcement  inspired  by 
the  prophet's  conceptions  of  God  and  the  divine 
fitness  of  things ;  but  only  what  was  general  in  it 
was  uttered  as  irresistibly  true :  the  particulars  were 
consequences,  drawn  from  fundamental  tenets  and 
special  circumstances,  but  drawn  with  the  license 
of  an  orator  or  a  poet.     To  err  in  particulars  was 
neither  to  be  deceived  nor  to  deceive ;    it  shook 
neither  the  prophet's  convictions  nor  the  people's 
confidence  in  his  mission.     Allegorical  images  and 
poetical  diction  well  suited  such  unveilings  of  the 
future. 

In  the  second  narrative,  which  forms  the  third 
chapter,  Hosea  speaks  in  the  first  person:  'Jeho- 
vah said  to  me,  "Go  yet,  love  a  woman  beloved  of 
her  friend,  yet  an  adulteress  ;  as  Jehovah  loves  the 
children  of  Israel,  while  they  turn  to  other  gods, 
and  delight  in  grape-cakes."  "    And  I  acquired  her 

25  grape-cakes]  Heb.  C^DjU  "'ti^S*.  which  is,  however,  an  obvi- 
ous corruption  of  C2JJJ  "*tt^ttW>  love-cakes  (Dr.  S.  Adler). 


128  THE  HISTOBICAL  POETRY 

for  fifty  pieces  of  silver  and  a  homer  and  a  lethekh2" 
of  barley.  And  I  said  to  her,  "A  long  time  thou 
must  sit  for  me :  not  act  the  harlot,  nor  belong  to  a 
man ;  and  so  I  will  be  to  thee.11  For  the  children  of 
Israel  will  sit  a  long  time  without  king  and  prince, 
without  sacrifice27  and  statue,  without  ephod28  and 
teraphim:29  afterward  the  children  of  Israel  will 
return,  and  seek  Jehovah,  their  God,  and  David, 
their  king ;  and  they  will  flock  trembling  to  Jeho- 
vah, and  to  his  bliss  in  the  latter  days.' 

This  narrative  may  be  the  allegorical  picture  of 
the  interregnum  after  the  death  of  Jeroboam  II.,  if 
such  an  interregnum  there  was.  It  may,  less  liter- 
ally, describe  the  period  of  the  successive  king- 
murders  and  usurpations,  during  which  no  king  or 
prince  or  priest  was  deemed  legitimate,  and  the  last 
hope  of  the  true  friends  of  the  people  was  in  a 
reunion  with  Judah— a  hope,  however,  the  realiza- 
tion of  which  now  appeared  remote,  a  bliss  of  late 
days.  Those  who  favor  the  former  view  naturally 
see  in  the  narrative  an  epilogue  to  the  first  two 
chapters,  which  form,  perhaps,  a   little  work    in 

%  Measures. 

21  Graetz  ('Geschiclite  der  Juden.'  vol.  ii.  part  i.  p.  96)  substitutes 

1"DTE>  altar>  for  "21-  sacrifice. 

*a  ephod]  A  sacred  vestment  worn  by  priests  when  delivering 
oracles.  In  the  priestly  service  as  prescribed  in  Exodus  it  was  a 
shoulder-dress  of  the  high-priest,  to  which  was  attached  the  breast- 
plate with  the  Urim  and  Tumraim. 

29  terapMni\  Household  idols,  formed  in  human  shape,  and  wor- 
shipped as  oracular  deities. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  129 

themselves,  widely  different  in  style  from  the  larger 
half  of  the  book ;  for  this  larger  division  does  not  re- 
flect a  state  of  anarchy  'without  a  king  and  prince,' 
but  lawlessness  under  successive  usurpers,  under 
kings  and  princes  not  deserving  recognition.  But 
if  the  theory  of  an  interregnum  is  discarded  as  con- 
trary to  the  x>lain,  though  chronologically  incorrect, 
account  of  II.  Kings,  the  second  narrative  appears 
a  fit  introduction  to  the  long  string  of  prophetic  re- 
bukes, exhortations,  and  elegiac  effusions  which 
follows,  just  as  the  first  narrative  introduces  the 
rebuke  beginning,  'Plead  ye  with  your  mother.' 
Like  this  piece,  the  opening  exhortation  of  the 
larger  division  begins  with  a  controversy  with  the 
nation,  and,  like  it,  too,  the  last  ends  with  promises 
of  divine  mercy  and  blessings.  The  external  ar- 
rangements of  the  two  unequal  parts  would  thus 
be  perfectly  analogous.  Nor  are  the  differences  in 
style  and  extent,  and  partly  also  in  tenor,  inex- 
plicable. For  in  the  first  part  we  probably  possess 
a  comparatively  youthful  and  fugitive  composition, 
treating  of  one  subject; — apostasy — in  a  hopeful  tone 
and  therefore  smooth  language  ;  and  in  the  latter,  a 
collection  of  pages,  of  perhaps  well-arranged  pages, 
on  which  are  written  all  the  emotions  of  a  loving 
and  sensitive  soul,  tortured  by  an  endless  succession 
of  sights  of  evil,  and  yet  unsubdued  in  its  faith 
and  hope — written  in  burning  words,  in  an  abrupt, 
rugged,  and  incisive  manner. 

Critics,  and  among  them  Ewald  and  Hitzig,  have 


130  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

made  vigorous  efforts  to  establish  perfect  harmony 
between  the  connected  elegiac  outpourings  of  Hosea 
and  the  scanty  lines  on  the  history  of  the  time  in 
II.  Kings ;  to  point  out  and  explain  his  allusions  to 
men,  crimes,  and  catastrophes ;  to  elaborate,  so  to 
say,  the  chronology  of  his  sighs  and  imprecations. 
But  the  attempts  are  more  ingenious  than  con- 
vincing. Idolatry  and  tyranny,  regicide  and  law- 
lessness, national  decline  and  a  fatal  wavering 
between  opposite  foreign  policies — that  is,  between 
virtual  submission  to  Assyria  or  to  Egypt  —  are 
characteristic  of  the  whole  period,  or  of  most  of  it ; 
and  we  know  too  little  of  the  single  acts  and  actors 
to  discover  the  precise  meanings  of  poetically  veiled 
allusions  to  them.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the 
chronological  correctness  of  the  order  in  which  the 
contents  of  chapters  iv.-xiv.  lie  before  us,  and  the 
flow  of  the  prophet's  grief  and  indignation  prob- 
ably followed  in  its  embodiments  the  course  of  the 
sinking  nation' s  history  ;  but  it  is  impossible  to 
determine  at  which  stages  of  the  history  its  poetical 
reflection  begins,  lingers,  and  ends.  All  we  know 
is  that  it  does  not  reach  the  point  in  the  nation's 
decay  which  marks  the  beginning  of  the  end :  the 
conquest  of  Gilead  and  other  parts  by  Tiglath- 
Pileser  of  Assyria  during  the  reign  of  Pekah ;  for 
Gilead  is  spoken  of  throughout  as  an  actual  part  of 
the  Ephraimitish  kingdom.  And  thus  the  bulk  of 
the  book  must  be  given  here  without  special  intro- 
ductions, and  almost  undivided,  as  follows  : 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  131 

(IV.) 

(1)  'Hear  Jehovah's  words,  ye  sons  of  Israel; 

for  Jehovah  has  a  controversy  with  the  dwellers  in 

the  land: 
There  is  no  truth,  no  love,  no  knowledge  of  God,  in 

the  land; 
swearing,  lying,  murder,  theft,  adultery — 
men  riot,  and  blood  touches  blood. 
Therefore  the  land  mourns, 
and  every  dweller  in  it  wastes  away: 
beasts  of  the  field,  and  birds  of  heaven; 
even  the  fishes  of  the  sea  perish. 

'  Yet,  let  no  man30  accuse, 
and  no  man  reprove — 
thy  people  3,are  accusers  of  the  priest. 

80  man]  Heb.  l£PK,  in  antithesis  to  God  Ox)»  wn0  speaks;  as  in 
I2PX  N/1  "OiK  ^K  "O  (Hos.  xi.  9),  3^  ^  ^i^  &  (Num.  xxiii. 
19),  and  VPbTtib  "OCT  bti  (J°D  xxxii-  13). 

31  thy  people]  '  O  priest '  must  be  supplied,  if  the  Hebrew  text  be 
correct — a  priest  being  addressed  as  the  representative  of  his  order. 
But  the  transposition  of  a  single  letter  allows  us  to  change  the 
meaning  of  the  last  line  into  '  thy  people  are  like  their  accusers,  O 
priest '  ("IfD  VQ'HQJ  *7Ey)-  The  letter  may  have  been  wrongly 
transferred  from  the  margin,  where  it  indicated  the  correction,  here 
suggested,  of  "^"HQD  into  "P2V"!QD-  "Wellhausen,  by  a  somewhat 
bolder  emendation,  changes  the  meaning  of  the  first  two  Hebrew 
words  into  '  my  people  are  like  their  priests '  (YHQDD  *i'Q]} ;  ef. 
XtlDJ  CyD  m  verse  9  of  the  same  chapter,  and  VHa^l  IftJ?  in  x.  5). 
His  introductory  remarks  (' Geschichte  Israels,'  vol.  i.  p.  141)  are 
well  worth  quoting:  'ImEingang  wird  das  Volk  aufgefordert  zu 
horen,  woruber  Jahve  es  anklage  •,  die  Silnde  herrsche  derart,  dass 


132  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

(5)  Therefore  thou  stumblest32  by  day,35 

and  the  prophet,  too,  stumbles  with  thee  by  night,34 

and  I  destroy  thy  mother.35 

My  people  is  destroyed  for  lack  of  knowledge — 

as  knowledge  thou  hast  rejected,36 

so  I  reject  thee  as  priest  to  me; 

thou  hast  forgotten  thy  God's  instruction, 

der  vollige  Untergang  des  Landes  niclit  ausbleiben  konne  v.  1-3. 
Mit  dem  Doch  an  der  Spitze  des  volgenden  Verses  andert  der 
Prophet  seine  Gedankenrichtung,  vom  Volke  gent  er  iiber  zu  den 
Priestern:  die  Wurzel  des  allgemeinen  Verderbens  sei  der  Mangel 
der  Gotterkenntniss  (nemlich :  Liebe  will  ich  und  niclit  Opf er)  und 
daran  seien  die  Priester  Schuld,  die  die  Aufgabe  batten  "die  Kennt- 
niss"  zu  verbreiten,  statt  dessen  aber  in  selbstsilcbtigem  Interesse 
dem  Hange  des  Volkes,  durch  Opfer  statt  durch  Gerecbtigkeit 
Jabve's  Gnade  zu  erlangen,  Vorscbub  leisten.  .  .  .  Hosea  bricht 
von  dem  vorberigen  Scbelten  gegen  das  Volk  ab:  doch  schelte 
und  tadle  nur  niemand;  warum  nicht,  das  milssen  die  f  ol- 
genden  Worte  besagen.  Es  muss  in  v.  4b  ein  Umstand  genannt 
werden,  der  das  Volk  entschuldigt  und  zugleich  den  Zorn  auf  die 
Priester  ableitet,  die  im  Folgenden  daran  kommen.  Der  zu  erwar- 
tende  Gedanke  ist  durch  diese  Erwitgungen  ganz  notwendig  bestimmt, 
nemlich:  denn  das  Volk  folgt  nur  seinen  Priestern." 

32  thou  stumblest]     O  priest. 

33  by  day]  Heb.  CViT  tnus  '  aa  account  of  the  antithesis  rnv< 
asinNeh.  iv.  16'  (Keil). 

34  Of.  Is.  xxviii.  7:  'Priest  and  prophet  reel,'  etc.,  and  Jer.  xxiii. 
11:  '  Both  prophet  and  priest  are  faithless.' 

35  thy  mother]  The  nation,  as  generally  explained;  cf.  ii.  4  (2),  and 
the  here  following  words:  '  My  people  is  destroyed.'  But  a  different 
explanation  is  possible ;  see  below. 

36  Thou  hast  spurned  the  priest's  duty  of  teaching  the  people  what 
God  demands  of  them,  and  therefore  '  there  is  no  knowledge  of  God 
in  the  land.' 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  133 

and  I,  thy  sons  I  forget. 
As  they  grew37  so  they  sinned  against  me: 
so  their  glory  into  shame  I  change. 
They  eat  my  people's  sin, 
and  lift  up  its  soul  to  their  guilt,38 
and  the  people  and  the  priest  become  alike. 
So  I  will  visit  its  ways  upon  him, 
and  requite  him  for  its  doings. 
(10)  They39  shall  eat,  and  not  be  satisfied; 

they  practise  whoredom,  yet  shall  not  increase — 
for  they  have  left  off  serving  Jehovah. 
Whoring,  wine,  and  must  take  away  the  heart.40 
My  people  goes  for  oracles  to  its  wood, 
and  its  stick  declares  to  it.41 
For  the  spirit  of  whoredom  leads  astray,42 
and  they  run  away  whoring  from  their  God. 
They43  sacrifice  on  mountain-tops, 

31  As  the  priests  grew  in  numbers  and  power. 

88  They  live  on  the  people's  sinful  worship,  fostering  the  lust  after 
their  own  guilty  practices.  'Ephraim  has  multiplied  altars  for 
sinning,  his  altars  are  for  sinning,'  says  Hosea  elsewhere  (viii.  11), 
and  immediately  afterward  (13)  stigmatizes  their  sacrifices  as  'guilt' 
and  'sins.'  'Die  Sunde  und  die  Verschuldung  ist  der  Opferdienst 
iiberhaupt  wie  er  vom  Volke  getrieben  wird  '  (Wellhausen). 

39  Tliey]     Who  '  eat  my  people's  sin. ' 

40  They  render  the  priests  soulless  and  stupid.  '  Heart, '  in  the 
language  of  Scripture,  denotes  the  intellect  as  well  as  the  emotions. 

41  The  priest  is  applied  to  for  oracles,  but,  soulless  as  he  has  become 
by  debauchery,  it  is  his  wooden  teraphim  and  his  divining-staves 
from  which  the  answers  are  obtained. 

4i  The  rottenness  of  the  priesthood  infects  the  people. 
43  Tliey\     The  priests,  in  order  to  make  their  religious  practices 
seductive. 


134  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

burn  incense  on  hills; 

under  oak  and  poplar  and  terebinth, 

the  shade  of  which  is  pleasant. 

Therefore44  your  daughters  practise  whoredom, 

and  your  daughters-in-law  adultery. 

I  will  not  punish  your  daughters  for  whoring, 

nor  your  daughters-in-law  for  adultery; 

for  they**  seclude  themselves46  with  harlots, 

and  sacrifice  with  temple-girls — 

and  the  unreflecting  people  should  perish  ! 47 

44  Therefore]  Thus  beguiled  by  sensual  allurements  and  lascivious 
rites. 

45  the?/]     The  priests. 

40  seclude  tliemsehes]     Heb.  ITir)"1  (in  parallelism  with  *ip(^7"i,  they 

sacrifice),  perhaps  by  mistake  for  "HlQp^,  they   burn   incense  ;   cf. 
verse  13. 

47  In  pursuing  this  arraignment  of  the  priesthood  of  his  time, 
Hosea,  who,  of  all  the  older  prophets,  is  the  most  familiar  with  the  tra- 
ditions of  early  Israelitish  history,  evidently  had  before  his  mind  the 
story  of  the  priestly  house  of  Eli,  of  its  excesses  and  rejection.  The 
picture  before  us  fully  adapts  itself  in  its  delineations  to  the  facts 
narrated  in  I.  Sam.  ii.-iv.,  the  main  portions  of  which  chapters  may 
have  existed  in  their  present  form  in  the  time  of  our  prophet,  if  they 
were  not  then  composed,  as  many  critics  presume.  The  sons  of  Eli, 
destined  to  sacrifice,  burn  incense,  and  deliver  oracles  before  Jeho- 
vah (I.  Sam.  ii.  28),  became  wretches  who  knew  not  God  (ii.  12),  and 
arrogant  priests  greedily  feeding  on  the  sacrifices  of  the  people 
(ii.  13-17),  and  shamelessly  abusing  their  position  at  the  sanctuary 
for  the  seduction  of  superstitious  women  congregating  there  (ii.  22). 
Therefore  they  were  rejected  as  priests,  and  doomed  to  shame  for 
their  insolence,  to  partial  extinction,  and  to  endless  craving  for 
something  to  eat  (ii.  30-36).  They  are  thus  the  prototypes  of  Hosea's 
priests,  who  officiate  and  declare  oracles  without  the  knowledge  of 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  135 

(15)      *  If  thou  practisest  whoredom,  0  Israel, 
let  not  Judah  become  guilty; 

God,  eat  the  people's  sin,  and  sacrifice  with  temple-girls,  and  are 
therefore  rejected  as  priests,  and  doomed  to  eat  and  not  be  satisfied, 
and,  though  practising  whoredom,  not  to  increase.     In  '  their  glory 
into  shame  I  change '  (TBK  "Jl^pD  DTQU>  verse  7  of  our  chapter) 
there  are  allusions  to  the  name  of  Eli's  grandson,  I-Chahod  (TQD  "»N, 
no  glory;  I.  Sam.  iv.  21)  and  to  the  words  '  they  who  contemn  me  shall 
be  despised  '  ("6p">  i"Q,  ii.  30).    (Compare  our  prophet's  '  for  its  glory, 
that  is  departed  from  it,'  x.    5,  with  the  explanation  of  the  name 
I-Chabod:  '  the  glory  is  departed  from  Israel.')    A  distinct  imitation 
of  a  verse  of  I.  Samuel  is  contained  in  verse  6  of  our  chapter:  '  As 
knowledge  thou  hast  rejected,  so  I  reject  thee  as  priest  to  me '  is 
modelled  on  Samuel's  words  addressed  to  Saul,  in  the  story  of  Agag 
(I.  Sam.  xv.  23):  '  Because  thou  hast  rejected  the  word  of  Jehovah, 
he  rejects  thee  as  king.'    (Compare  especially^  "\nDl2  ^NCSVOM 
with  "I'pQft  *7DNi2nV)     The  preceding  words  of  Samuel  are-  'Has 
Jehovah  as  much  delight  in  burnt-offerings  and  sacrifices   as   in 
obeying  Jehovah's  voice  ?    Behold,  to  obey  is  better  than  a  sacrifice, 
to  hearken  than  the  fat  of  rams. '    These  Hosea  condenses  elsewhere 
(vi.  6)  thus:    'Goodness  I  desire,   not  sacrifice;  knowledge  of  God 
more  than   burnt-offerings.'     (Compare   if^On  with  t>Di"in»  PCI 
with   rD?.9>   and    n"6yD  with  nw3-)     The  preceding  verse  in 
Hosea    has   'I  hew  by  the   prophets*   (n^^D    TQSn))  which 
reminds  us  of  the  expression  '  and  Samuel  hewed  Agag '  (rp£H 
32NT1N  ^frOQ*^)   m   ^ie   same   narrative   of    the   prophet   and   the 
Amalekite  chief  (xv.  33).     And  having  thus  discovered    in    Hosea 
frequent  verbal  reminiscences  of  the  story  of  Agag,  we  shall  not 
transcend  the  bounds  of  legitimate  criticism  in  conjecturing  that  '  I 
destroy  thy  mother'  (*1QX  TPDTl)  verse  5  of  our  chapter)  is,  in 
plain  meaning,  a  parallel  to  the  words  '  childless  be    .     .     .     thy 
mother '  (-[^S*  •      •      ^DWn>   I-   Sam-   xv-   33>>   addressed  to 

Agag  by   Samuel.     (Compare  also    "J^DI     .      .      .     rvttOl  with 
^DltfH     •     •     •     n^D^'   m  tne  respective  verses.)     'My  people  is 


136  THE    HISTORICAL  POETRY 

repair  ye  not  to  Gilgal,'18 

nor  go  up  to  Beth-Aven/9 

and  swear  not,  "As  Jehovah  lives,     .     .     ."  *° 

Like  an  unbroken  heifer 

has  Israel  become  intractable: 

now  Jehovah  should  feed  them 

as  a  lamb  in  a  wide  pasture  ! 

Ephraim  is  wound  up  with  idols — let  it"  alone  ! 

Their  drink  is  rank, 

they  whore  and  whore, 

they  love  "  0  give"  " — 

destroyed,'  which  closely  follows  '  I  destroy  thy  mother,'  seemingly 
speaks  against  this  conjecture,  but  '  thy  sons  I  forget,'  in  the  same 
verse,  speaks  for  it.  And  'thy  sons,'  between  'I  reject  thee  as 
priest,'  and  'their  glory  into  shame  I  change,'  again  reminds  us  of 
Eli  and  his  sons. 

48  Gilgal]     See  above,  p.  76. 

49  Beth-Aven]    Beth-El;  see  above,  p.  80. 

60  Hosea  here  condenses  two  verses  of  his  older  contemporary: 
'  Seek  not  Beth-El,  repair  not  to  Gilgal,  and  go  not  over  to  Beer- 
Sheba,'  etc.  (Am.  v.  5),  and  'They  who  swear  by  Samaria's  guilt, 
and  say,  "  As  thy  God  lives,  O  Dan,  .  .  .";  "As  there  exists  a 
way  to  Beer  Sheba,  .  .  .  ,"  etc'  (viii.  14),  at  the  same  time 
adopting  Amos's  change  of  the  name  Beth-El  into  Beth-Aven.  As 
Beer-Sheba  is  mentioned  in  each  of  those  passages,  it  is  probable 
that  the  verse  before  us,  too,  originally  included  that  name,  perhaps 
in  a  line  like  this:  'and  swear  not,  "As  thy  Lord  lives,  O  Beer- 
Sheba"  '  (See  above,  pp.  99,  100.)  '  Swearing'  is  naturally  connected 
with  Beer-Sheba,  a  name  signifying  well  of  swearing  (Gen.  xxi.  31). 
If  the  text  be  correct,  its  meaning  must  be:  Swear  not  by  Jehovah  at 
those  seats  of  public  idolatry,  Gilgal  and  Beth -El. 

51  it]  In  the  original  him,  which  is,  however,  followed  by  the  pos- 
sessive her. 

52  Heb.  sqtt  literally,  give  ye,  as  in  the  Authorized  Version.     The 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  137 

its  shields"  are  a  disgrace. 

The  wind  binds  it  up  in  its  wings; 

they  shall  blush  for  their  sacrificings. M 

(V.) 
(1)       '  Hear  this,  ye  priests; 
attend,  0  house  of  Israel; 
listen,  house  of  the  king. 
For  against  you58  is  the  pleading, 
since  ye  are  a  snare  at  Mizpah,58 
and  a  net,  spread,  on  Tabor. 
They  stretch  faithlessness  deeply," 

word  is  expressive  of  greedy  asking  for  gifts,  and  of  insatiableness. 
'  Give  -  give '  (3;"}  2J-|)  characterizes  the  first  two  insatiables  of 
Aluqah's  proverb  (Prov.  xxx.  15;  see  note  L,  at  the  end  of  the 
volume).  A  confirmation  of  the  Authorized  Version's  rendering  of 
^27]  can  be  found  in  Isaiah.  (See  note  M.)  In  the  same  way  Hosea 
(viii.  13)  speaks  of  the  '  sacrifices  of  my  Give-gives '  (*QrDn  TQT) 
— that  is,  of  Jehovah's  priests  after  the  fashion  of  the  sons  of  Eli, 
who,  'when  any  man  offered  a  sacrifice,'  'even  before  the  fat  was 
burned,'  would  send  a  servant  with  these  words:  'Give  flesh  to 
roast  for  the  priest,'  and  would  insist  on  its  being  given  '  raw,'  'im- 
mediately '  (I.  Sam.  ii.  13-16;  cf.  n3H>  give<  an<I  ]m>  tnou  SDalt 
give,  to  which  27]  DH  corresponds). 

53  Ephraim's  defenders  and  rulers  are  a  disgrace.  So  according  to 
the  Masoretic  text;  but  if  instead  of  f-p22S  we  rea(I  rP23l3  (see  note 

T      V  *  T  T      V  —  " 

M),  the  Heb.  words  must  be  rendered,  shame  for  its  gardens! 

54  sacrificings]  Heb.  z'ba'lwth,  the  pi.  of  zib'hah,  which  corresponds 
to  zeba'h  as  tib'liah  does  to  tcba'h.  The  Septuagint,  however,  read 
instead  of  Cnf"QlQ>  for  their  sacrificings,  cnrOTDO*  for  their 
altars. 

65  yozi]     Priests  and  court. 

66  Presumably  Mizpah-in-Gilead. 
T/cey    .      .     .     deeply']     A  conjectural    rendering  of    ntOnttft 


SI 


138  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

but  I  am  a  chastisement  to  them  all. 
I  know  Ephraim, 
Israel  is  not  hid  from  me. 
Thou  art  lewd  now,  0  Ephraim; 
Israel  is  defiled. 
Their  doings  allow  them  not 
to  return  to  their  God; 
for  the  spirit  of  whoredom  is  within  them, 
and  Jehovah  they  know  not. 
(5)  The  glory  of  Israel58  testifies  to  his  face; 
Israel  and  Ephraim  stumble  in  their  guilt; 
Judah,  too,  stumbles  with  them. 
With  their  sheep  and  cattle 
they  go  to  seek  Jehovah, 
but  find  him  not; 
he  has  withdrawn  from  them. 
They  have  been  faithless  to  Jehovah, 
begetting  strange  offspring: 
now  a  month  shall  consume  them, 
with  their  portions. 

•  Blow  ve  the  horn  at  Gibeah. 


Ip-'Oyn  Ct££'-  Various  corrections  of  these  words  have,  however, 
been  suggested:  Graetz  ('Geschichte  der  Juden,'  vol.  ii.  part  i.  p.  212) 

reads,  instead  of  niDnm  riDOltf!  iff-  7VCDW  IFIHTj  Hos-  vi-  9)> 
connecting  'Shechem'  with  '  Mizpah '  and  'Tabor;'  A.  Krochmal 
(cited  by  Schorr),  .  .  .  n  nnttfli  adding  'pit'  to  'snare'  and 
'net;'  and  Schorr  ('He'haluc'  i.  114,  x.  78),  nnriD^  comparing 
inniy  IjTEyn  (Hos.  ix.  9).     To  these  conjectures  one  more  may  be 

added:  C^IOiy  PHOn^n  stands  for  EHET1  Pntt'1  (<*/  Ps-  xxxv.  7). 

68  Jehovah.     Dr.  S.  Adler,  reading    ;-|3J^     f°r  7WV\   translates, 
Israel's  pride  is  humbled  .  ,  . 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  UEBliEWiS.  139 

the  trumpet  at  Ramah,6" 
shout  at  Beth- Avon, 
"  Behind  thee/"  0  Benjamin  !" 
"  Ephraim  shall  be  laid  waste 
in  the  day  of  chastisement," 
against  Israel's  tribes 
I  announced  as  sure. 
(10)  Judah's  princes  have  become 
removers  of  landmarks: 
over  them  I  shall  pour  out 
my  wrath  like  water. 
Ephraim  is  oppressed, 
law-crushed; 
for  he  Avillingly 
follows  the  statute. 

And  thus  I  am  like  a  moth  to  Ephraim, 
like  a  germ  of  decay  to  Judah. 
Ephraim  sees  his  disease, 
and  Judah  his  wound; 
and  Ephraim  goes  to  Assyria, 
sends  to  the  grand-king.61 


59  Qibeah  .  .  .  Ramah']  Towns  situated  on  eminences  of 
northern  Benjamin,  and  belonging  to  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  which 
is  thus  to  be  warned  of  the  danger  coming  from  the  invaded  north. 

60  Behind  fliee]     It  is  (is  the  invasion  announced  by  the  signal). 

61  grand-king]  Melekh  ydreb,  seems  to  be  an  imitation  of  the  self- 
glorifying  epithets  adopted  by  the  Assyrian  kings:  saru  Tabu,  great 
king,  and  saru  dannu,  mighty  king;  the  word  ydreb  being  possibly 
chosen  as  combining,  in  the  double  sense  of  ylreb,  becomes  great,  and 
yarib,  contends,  pleads,  both  Assyrian  epithets  in  their  Hebrew  signi- 
fications (rob,  great,  and  dun,  judge,  pleader).     Sennacherib  is  desig- 


140  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

But  he  cannot  heal  you, 
nor  remove  your  wound; 
for  7"  am  like  a  lion  to  Ephraim, 
like  a  young  lion  to  the  house  of  Judah; 
I  tear,  and  go; 
I  carry  off,  and  none  delivers. 
(15)  I  go,  and  return  to  my  place, 

and  wait  till  they  feel  their  guilt, 

and  seek  my  countenance: 

in  their  distress  they  will  early  come  to  me. 

(VI.) 

(1)      '  "  Come,  let  us  return  to  Jehovah; 
for  he  has  torn,  and  will  heal  us; 
has  smitten,  and  will  bind  us  up. 
He  will  revive  us  after  two  days, 
in  the  third  he  will  raise  us  up — 
that  we  may  live  before  him. 
So  let  us  know,  eagerly  hasten  to  know,  Jehovah: 
like  the  dawn's  his  rise  is  sure; 
as  rain  he  will  come  upon  us, 
as  the  earth-refreshing  latter  rain." 
'  What  shall  I  do  to  thee.  0  Ephraim  ? 

natedinll.  Kings  xviii.  19,  28  as  hammelekh  haggddol  melekh  ashshur, 
the  great  king,  the  king  of  Assyria,  and  in  his  inscriptions  he  terms 
himself  saru  rabu  saru  dannu  saru  assuri.  (See  George  Smith's 
'  History  of  Sennacherib,'  p.  1.)  Schrader  ('  Die  Keilinschriften  und 
das  Alte  Testament,'  p.  281)  translates  melekh  ywreb,  King  Warlike 
(properly  King  Contender),  and  thinks  Hosea  referred  to  King  Assur- 
danilu  (771-754  B.C.).  Ywreb  {—yah  rdb,  Jehovah  contends)  may 
thus  be  the  equivalent  of  the  Assyrian  dan  ilu  in  the  Hebrew  sense 
{dan  el,  God  contends,  defends).  As  such  it  was  the  more  easily  cho- 
sen as  '  King  Jareb '  resembled  the  then  familiar  '  King  Jeroboam. ' 


OF  TEE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  141 

what  to  thee,  0  Judah  ? 
your  goodness  is  as  the  morning-cloud, 
as  the  early,  vanishing  dew. 
(5)       '  Therefore  I  hew  hy  the  prophets,62 
slay  them  with  the  words  of  my  mouth, 
and  judgment  shines  forth  as  light.63 
For  goodness  I  desire,  not  sacrifice; 
knowledge  of  God  more  than  hurnt-offerings. 

'  Yet  they,  like  men,64  transgressed  the  covenant; 
there65  they  acted  faithlessly  against  me. 

62  See  above,  note  47. 

63  In  the  Masoretic  text,  j^rji  -fltf  *PtODDQl>  an&  tny  judgments 
light  shines  forth  {sic),  which  is  evidently  a  corruption  of  "'tODt^Ol 
N^"1  TfcO>  and  my  judgment  as  light  shines  forth,  as  the  Septuagint, 
the  Chaldee  paraphrast,  and  the  Syriac  version  have  it. 

64  like  meri\  In  the  original,  k'dddm,  like  man,  or  like  Adam,  which 
some  prefer;  Adam,  however,  is  a  name  unknown  to  the  prophets. 
The  suggestion  has  been  made  (by  Luzzato  ?)  that  k'dddm  stands,  by 
mistake,  for  b'dddm,  in  Adam,  meaning  the  town  of  that  name  men- 
tioned in  Josh.  iii.  16.  This  conjecture  deserves  the  more  attention 
as  it  can  be  extended  to  explain  the  whole  verse.  Adam  was  the 
place  near  which  the  Israelites,  according  to  Josh,  iii.,  crossed  the 
Jordan ;  near  it  Achan  committed  the  sacrilegious  crime  which  drew 
the  wrath  of  Jehovah  upon  the  people,  the  first  crime  committed  by 
Israel  in  the  Holy  Land  proper  (Josh.  vii.).  The  meaning  of  our 
verse  would  thus  be :  They  transgressed  my  covenant  at  the  first  spot 
they  touched  in  the  land  which  I  gave  them ;  there  they  acted  faith- 
lessly against  me.  Achan's  guilt  is  stigmatized,  as  one  incurred  by 
the  whole  nation,  almost  in  the  very  words  used  here  by  Hosea: 
'  The  children  of  Israel  acted  faithlessly '  {ibid,  verse  1 ;  the  identical 
meaning  of  ^tjq  and  -|}2  is  best  proved  by  ^5"n?a  and  -|J2) ;  '  Israel 
has  sinned,  and  they  have  also  transgressed  my  covenant '  {ibid,  11). 

66  there].    Explained  by  some  as  meaning  therein. 


142  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

Gilead66  is  a  city  of  evil-doers, 
stamped67  with  blood. 

66  Gilead]  Stands  for  Mizpah-in-Gilead  (which  is  most  probably 
identical  with  Ramoth-in-Gilead).  The  transition  from  '  Adam,  the 
town ' — if  that  is  meant  by  adam  in  the  preceding  verse  (see  note  64) 
— to  Mizpah  is  quite  natural,  as  the  former  was  '  beside  Zarthan ' 
(Josh.  iii.  16;  'Zarethan'  in  the  Authorized  Version  is  an  error),  a 
place  situated  near  Succoth  (see  I.  Kings  vii.  46),  and  must  conse- 
quently have  been  almost  opposite  the  mountain  town  of  Gilead. 
The  prophet  thus  goes  back  from  Joshua's  Adam  to  Jacob's  Gilead. 

67  stamped]  Heb.  'dqubbdh,  a  denominative  of  'aqeb,  heel,  footstep 
(Gesenius).  As  Gilead,  according  to  Gen.  xxxi.,  received  its  name 
from  Jacob  (ya'dqub),  whose  own  is  derived  from  'aqeb,  heel  (Gen. 
xxv.  26),  we  may  see  in  the  derivative  before  us,  coupled  with  Gilead, 
an  allusion  to  the  story  of  the  patriarch:  The  place  where  Jacob 
spilt  the  blood  of  sacrifices  (Gen.  xxxi.  54)  is  now  marked  by  the 
bloody  footprints  of  murderers;  or  rather,  Gilead  falsely  boasts  of 
Jacob's  sacrifices:  it  is  but  a  city  notorious  for  the  slaughter  of 
human  victims.  To  the  derivation  of  the  name  Jacob,  as  given  in 
Genesis,  Hosea  has  a  more  distinct  allusion  in  xii.  4:  'In  the  womb 
he  grasped  the  heel  ('dqab)  of  his  brother.'  He  also  repeatedly 
alludes  to  the  stone-heap  (^j)  on  Mount  Gilead,  as  having  served 
Jacob  in  lieu  of  an  altar,  and  to  the  stone  monument  (PIDHD) 
which  he  erected  there  (Gen.  xxxi.  44-54).  In  connection  with  Gilead 
and  Jacob's  Mesopotamian  adventures  (xii.  12,  13)  Hosea  says  of 
Israel,  '  Their  altars,  too,  are  like  stone-heaps  (c  vl)  i11  the  furrows 
of  the  field ;'  and  elsewhere  (x.  1-3),  '  As  his  fruit  increases,  so  he  in- 
creases his  altars;  as  his  land  improves,  so  they  improve  the  statues 
(rYQ!JD)- '  That  stone-heap  and  that  monument  were  to  commemorate 
the  friendly  talk  of  Jacob  and  Laban,  the  Mesopotamian,  their 
covenant  (Gen.  xxxi.  44)  and  their  oath  (verse  53);  and  to  these 
Hosea  seems  to  allude  when  he  adds  (x.  4),  '  They  talk  words,  swear 
falsely,  make  covenants,  and  justice  springs  up  like  a  poison-weed 
in  the  furrows  of  the  field.'     And  the  sequel  (as  well  as  xii.  2)  shows 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  143 

And,  lurking  like  the  man  of  bands, 
a  gang  of  priests 

murder  along  the  road  to  Shechem — 
for  they  do  infamous  things.68 
(10)  In  the  house  of  Israel  I  have  seen  horrors: 
there  is  Ephraim's  harlotry, 
Israel  is  defiled.69 


that  the  covenant-making  refers  to  a  treaty  with  Assyria,  then  the 
great  Mesopotamian  power. 

68  From  Gilead  Hosea  goes  over  to  Shechem,  following  the  route  of 
Jacoh  in  his  mind  (see  Gen.  xxxi.-xxxiv).  In  comparing  the  assassi- 
nations committed  by  priests  near  that  city — probably  facts  notorious 
in  his  time — to  the  murderous  'lurking  of  a  man  of  bands,'  he  per- 
haps thought  of  the  story  of  Abimelech,  the  son  of  Gideon  (Judg. 
ix.),  who  made  himself  master  of  Shechem  with  the  help  of  '  reckless 
vagabonds '  hired  for  the  purpose,  and,  when  the  people  revolted 
against  him,  'laid  wait  against  Shechem  in  four  companies,'  slew 
many  of  the  revolters,  even  before  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  shortly 
after  repeated  this  lying  in  wait  with  murderous  effect. — '  For  they  do 
infamous  things,'  Heb.  "^JJ  ^101  SD»  again  carries  us  back  to  Jacob, 
while  reminding  us  of  the  infamous  deed  of  an  ancient  Schechemite 
(TWy  n^32  "Oj  Gen.  xxxiv.  7).  Cf.  Gesenius's  '  Thesaurus '  under 
riQl  ('scelus')  and  H/23  ('  scelus  nefandum '),  and  HQl  Wtf  "O 
Tlbm  (J^g.  xx.  6). 

69  '  The  house  of  Israel '  seems  here  to  imply  the  meaning  of 
Jacob's  house — that  is,  Jacob's  household;  Hosea,  who  is  full  of  remi- 
niscences of  the  legend  of  Jacob  (see  ch.  xii.),  knows  the  identity  of 
the  two  names,  and  also  their  derivations  (xii.  4).  He  thus,  rather 
cruelly,  reproaches  Ephraim  with  the  defilement  of  Jacob's  daughter, 
Dinah,  in  Shechem,  and  the  disgrace  it  brought  on  the  patriarch's 
house  (^frOUPD  IT^J?  Hl^DJ  "Q)>  ^e  harlotry  of  the  nation  which  de- 
scended from  him  beginning  there.  Compare  with  nijl  aQd  KEIOj 
in  the  verse  before  us  the  words  of  Dinah's  avengers:  '  Shall  he  deal 


144  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

In  thee  too,  0  Judah, 
a  cion70  he71  has  set. 

'  When  I  restore  my  people,72 
(VII.) 
(1)  when  I  heal  Israel, 

Ephraim's  guilt  reveals  itself,73 
Samaria's  wickedness  all. 
For  they  practise  deceit, 
thieves  enter, 
a  band  makes  raids  without. 

'  And  let  them  not  say  in  their  heart 
I  keep  in  memory  all  their  wickedness: 
their  deeds  are  around  them  notv, 
they  are  before  my  face. 
With  their  wickedness  they  delight  the  king, 
and  princes  with  their  lies. 
They  are  all  adulterers; 

•with  our  sister  as  with  a  harlot  (iXMD)?'  (Gen-  xxxiv.  31),  and  the 
verb  KEtO>  to  defile,  occurring  three  times  in  the  story  (verses  5, 

13,  27). 

70  A  graft  of  his  impurity  (Ewald);  gclclr,  here,  having  the  mean- 
ing, not  of  harvest,  but  of  tioig  or  cion,  as  in  Is.  xxvii.  11,  Ps.  lxxx. 
12,  and  Job.  xiv.  9. 

71  Israel. 

"  So  according  to  the  Hebrew  text;  but  iqj;  rYOttf  "^ttO  ma7 
be  a  clerical  corruption  of  ">Qy  n^2^ttG>  m  tne  wantonness  of  my 
people,  or  of  iqj;  rv"THJ?t£G>  m  tue  horridness  of  my  people  (cf. 
7"p~!l"iytt>  in  the  preceding  verse).  These  words  would  attach  them- 
selves to  the  preceding  line,  and  conclude  the  section.  (See  note  N, 
at  the  end  of  the  volume.) 

73  When  I  try  to  remove  his  disease  (see  v.  12,  13),  all  his  rottenness 
shows  itself. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  145 

they  resemble  an  oven  heated  by  the  baker/4 
who  leaves  off  stirring 

from  the  kneading  of  the  dough  until  it  is  leavened. 
(5)  On  "our  king's  day" 

the  princes  are  sick  from  the  heat  of  wine; 
he  joins  hands  with  buffoons. 

For  they  fill  their  heart  like  an  oven  in  their  lurk- 
ing;75 
all  night  their  baker  sleeps, 
in  the  morning  it76  blazes  like  flaming  fire. 
They  all  glow  like  an  oven, 
and  they  consume  their  judges77 — 
all  their  kings  have  fallen; 
none  of  them  calls  to  me. 

'  Ephraim  mixes  himself  with  the  nations — 
Ephraim  is  a  cake  not  turned;78 
strangers  have  eaten  up  his  strength, 

74  the  baker]  The  king,  who  heats  and  stirs  their  passions,  sharing 
their  excesses,  and  profiting  by  them,  until  he  falls  himself  a  victim 
of  private  passion  or  popular  frenzy. 

15  Heb.  C^-ifrO  Ulb  "112HD  "Q"lp  "0>  which  is,  however,  most 
probably  a  corruption  of  C2  "1J7D  Clb  "VOITD  CD"lp  "0>  for  their 
bosom  is  like  an  oven,  their  heart  burns  within  them,  as  has  been 
pointed  out  by  Schorr  (' He 'halu^,'  i.  114,  x.  78).  This  emendation 
disposes  of  the  speculations  about  the  regicidal  lurking  of  the 
princes,  in  which,  among  others,  Hitzig  indulged  with  great  inge- 
nuity. 

16  it]    The  oven,  again. 

11  their  judges]  Heb.  crnODt^  probably  by  mistake  for  CiTDINN 
their  bakers. 

18  A  cake  on  hot  ashes,  not  turned,  and  therefore  half  burned, 
half  raw. 


146  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

and  he  knows  it  not; 

also  gray  hair  is  sprinkled  upon  him, 

and  he  knows  it  not. 
(10)  The  glory  of  Israel79  testifies  to  his  face, 

but  they  return  not  to  Jehovah,  their  God, 

and  seek  him  not,  for  all  this. 

Ephraim  has  become  like  a  silly,  senseless  dove; 

Egypt  they  call,  to  Assyria  they  go. 

As  they  go,  I  spread  my  net  for  them ; 

like  birds  of  heaven  I  bring  them  down; 

I  chastise  them,  as  was  announced  to  their  crowd. 

Woe  to  them  ! — for  fleeing  from  me; 

havoc  on  them  ! — for  revolting  against  me. 

And  I  would  redeem  them — 

but  they  speak  lies  against  me, 

and  cry  not  to  me  in  their  heart, 

while  they  wail  on  their  couches. 

For  corn  and  wine  they  band  together, 

rebelling  against  me. 
(15)  /  strung,  strengthened  their  arms; 

yet  to  me  they  impute  evil. 

They  turn,  not  upward; 

they  have  become  like  a  treacherous  bow. 

Their  princes  shall  fall  by  the  sword, 

for  the  rage  of  their  tongue — 

which  makes  them  a  derision  in  the  land  of  Egypt. 

(VIII.) 
(1)      '  A  trumpet  to  thy  mouth: 

"Like  an  eagle  upon  the  house  of  Jehovah  !" — 

because  they  have  transgressed  my  covenant, 

'9  See  above,  note  58. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  147 

revolted  against  my  teaching. 
To  me  they  cry, 

"We  know  thee,  my  God;  we,  Israel." 
But  Israel  has  spurned  the  good, 
and  the  foe  pursues  him. 
They  have  set  up  kings,  not  from  me; 
have  set  up  princes,  and  I  know  them  not; 
their  silver,  their  gold,  they  make  into  idols — 
that  it  may  be  cut  off. 
(5)  Loathsome  is  thy  calf,  0  Samaria80 — 
my  anger  is  kindled  against  them: 
how  long  will  they  be  incapable  of  guiltlessness  ? 
For  from  Israel  it  is,81 
A  workman  made  it: 
it  is  no  deity — 

yea,  Samaria's  calf. will  become  shivers. 
For  wind  they  sow, 
and  the  tempest  they  reap; 
no  stalks  come  from  it, 
the  shoot  yields  no  fruit; 
should  it  yield, 
strangers  would  swallow  it. 

'Israelis  swallowed; 
they  are  now  among  the  nations — 
like  a  vessel  which  nobody  wants. 

80  The  golden  calf  of  Beth-El,  worshipped  by  the  kings  of  Samaria 
(Rashi,  Kimhi). 

81  Heb.  Kim  ^JOE^E  "0>  instead  of  which  Schorr  ('He'haluc,' 
x.  94)  suggests  K1H  p^x  "1D1/0  "0>  f°r  i*  ^s  tne  worship  of  fools, 
comparing  Jer.  x.  8:  N1D  V])  C/^H  "IDYO'  which  is  followed  by 
EHn  nti'J/D*  as  ttie  Pbrase  here  is  by  int^y  ttHiT 


148  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

For  they  go  up  to  Asshur; 
to  the  lonely  wild-ass 
Ephraim  offers  gifts  for  love.82 
(10)  Though  they  offer  gifts  among  the  nations, 
I  gather  them  now, 
and  they  writhe83  but  little 
under  the  burden  of  the  king  of  princes. 84 

'  For  Ephraim  has  multiplied  altars  for  sinning, 
the  altars  are  to  him  for  sinning. 
I  may  write  for  him  piles  of  teachings: 
a  strange  thing  they  are  deemed. 
The  sacrifices  of  my  Give-gives  !   — 
they  sacrifice  them  as  flesh  to  eat, 85 
Jehovah  accepts  them  not. 
He  now  remembers  their  guilt, 
and  punishes  their  sins; 

82  Connect  *Q  with  C"HDX>  etc- — Ephraim,  the  'unbroken  heifer' 
(Hos.  iv.  16)  runs  after  the  Assyrian  wild-ass,  that  wants  no  com- 
panion. 

83  they  writhe']  See  Milhlau  and  Volck's  Gesenius,  under  'Mil  and 
'hdlal,  and  Wunsche,  in  loco. 

84  the  king  of  princes]  The  grand-king  of  Assyria,  Sennacherib, 
in  his  inscription  on  'the  Bellino  Cylinder,'  styles  himself  asariddan 
malki,  the  head  of  princes.  (George  Smith's  rendering,  '  head  over 
kings' — 'History  of  Sennacherib,'  p.  2 — and  Talbot's,  'the  first  of 
all  kings' — 'Records  of  the  Past,'  vol.  i. — are  less  exact.)  As  sar 
and  melekh,  the  Hebrew  words  for  prince  and  king,  have  the  reverse 
meanings  in  Assyrian  (see  Schrader,  '  Die  Keilinschriften  und  das 
Alte  Testament,'  p.  4),  the  question  which  Isaiah  puts  into  Sen- 
nacherib's mouth,  'Are  not  all  my  princes  kings?'  (Is.  x.  8),  is  doubly 
felicitous:  each  of  the  princes  was  thus  in  power  and  name  a  king. 

85  See  above,  note  52.  Dr.  S.  Adler,  reading  "l~ON"^,  translates, 
let  them  slaughter  {them  as)  flesh,  and  eat.     Cf.  Hos.  ix  4. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  149 

they — they  return  to  Egypt. 

Israel  forgot  his  Maker, 

and  built  grand  edifices; 

Judah  multiplied  fortified  towns. 

I  send  fire  into  his  towns, 

and  it  devours  the88  palaces.' 

(IX.)  , 

(1)      Rejoice  not,  0  Israel, 

exulting  like  the  nations; 

for  thou  hast  gone  a-whoring  from  thy  God, 

lovest  harlot's  wages  on  all  corn-floors.87 

But  threshing-floor  and  press  will  not  feed  them, 

the  new  wine  deceives. 

They  remain  not  in  Jehovah's  land: 

Ephraim  returns  to  Egypt, 

they  eat  unclean  things  in  Assyria. 

They  pour  not  wine  for  Jehovah, 

their  sacrifices  please  him  not; 

these  are  like  mourners'  food  with  them, 

all  who  eat  of  it  are  polluted; 

their  food  is  for  themselves: 

it  should  not  come  into  Jehovah's  house. 
(5)  What  will  ye  do  in  the  festive  day, 

in  the  day  of  Jehovah's  feast  ? 
For,  lo,  because  of  havoc  they  go; 

Egypt  collects  them, 

Memphis  buries  them; 

86  the]    In  the  original,  her,  which  is  referred  by  various  expositors 
to  various  nouns. 

87  That  is,  thou  delightest  in  the  plenty  of  corn  as  in  a  gift  of  the 
Baals  (Kimhi);  cf.  Hos.  ii.  7,  14. 


150  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

their  precious  things  of  silver 
nettles  inherit, 
briers  are  in  their  tents. 
The  days  of  punishment  are  come, 
the  days  of  retribution  come; 
Israel  sees  it, 
'  the  prophet  is  a  fool, 
the  man  of  the  spirit  crazy.' 
So  great  is  thy  guilt, 
so  great  the  treachery. 
Ephraim  is  a  spy  toward  my  God;88 
to  the  prophet,  a  fowler's  snare  on  all  his  ways; 
treachery  is  in  the  house  of  his  God. 89 
Their  corruption  is  deep, 
as  in  the  days  of  Gibcah;90 
he  remembers  their  guilt, 
punishes  their  sins. 
(10)      '  Like  grapes  in  the  wilderness 
I  found  Israel; 

like  the  fig-tree's  first-ripe,  in  the  first  shooting, 
I  descried  your  fathers. 
But  they — they  went  to  Baal-Peor,91 

i8  That  is,  he  is  bent  on  espying  the  errors  of  the  man  of  God. — 
Instead  of  rophch,  a  spy,  we  ought  perhaps  to  read  cddeh,  a  trapper, 
in  accordance  with  the  following. 

89  At  Beth-El  (God's-Housc),  where,  though  under  idolatrous  sym- 
bols, Jehovah  was  worshipped. 

90  The  days  of  the  atrocious  crimes  committed  by  the  Benjamites 
in  Gibeah,  which  brought  about  the  almost  complete  destruction  of 
that  tribe;  see  Judg.  xix.,  xx. 

91  to  Baal-Peor']     The   Hebrew  construction  shows  that  not  the 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBBEWS.  151 

and  devoted  themselves  to  the  Shame/2 
and  became  abominations  like  their  lover.93 

'  Ephraim's  power  flies  away  like  a  bird, 
from  the  birth,  from  the  womb,  from  the  concep- 
tion. 
Even  if  they  bring  up  their  sons, 
I  bereave  them  of  men — 

for  woe  to  them  when  I  turn  away94  from  them  ! 
Ephraim  like  a  stately  tree96  I  found,  of  Tyre's, 
planted  in  a  pasture — 
yet  Ephraim  must  lead  out  his  sons  to  the  slayer.' 

Give  them,  0  Jehovah — 
what  shalt  thou  give  ? — 
give  them  a  barren  womb 
and  shrivelled  breasts. 
(15)      'All  their  wickedness  is  in  Gilgal; 
yea,  there  I  hate  them; 
for  the  evil  of  their  doings 
I  drive  them  out  of  my  house; 
I  will  love  them  no  more — 

Moabitish  idol  itself  (see  vol.  i.  p.  63),  but  the  place  of  its  worship  is 
meant. 

9-  tlie  Shame]  Heb.  bosheth,  a  contemptuous  equivalent  for  Baal; 
see  vol.  i.  p.  195. 

93  toff]  Properly,  love,  object  of  love,  tha.t  is,  Baai-Peor;  see 
Gesenius  s.v.  oliab. 

94  when  I  turn  away]  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  text,  whether 
we  read,  instead  of  "HltL-'D)  "H1DI3'  when  I  depart  (Schorr),  or 
v~nt£'2>  when  I  look  (away;  Ewald,  Hitzig).  Schorr  ('He'haluc,' 
x.  106)  also  suggests  the  reading  of  the  word  gam  after  the  first  Tel  in 
the  verse,  instead  of  after  the  second;  cf.  verse  16. 

95  like  a  stately  tree]    See  note  O,  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 


152  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

all  their  princes  are  rebellious. 

'Ephraim  is  smitten: 
their  root  is  dried  up, 
they  bear  no  fruit96 — 
and  should  they  bring  forth, 
I  would  slay  the  precious  fruit  of  their  womb.' 

My  God  rejects  them, 
for  they  hearken  not  to  him : 
they  will  be  fugitives  among  the  nations. 

(X.) 
(1)      ' Israel  is  a  running  vine: 
he  yields  his  fruit. 97 
As  his  fruit  increases, 
so  he  increases  his  altars; 
as  his  land  improves, 
so  they  improve  the  statues.98 
Their  heart  is  divided: 
now  they  shall  atone; 
this99  breaks  down  their  altars, 
destroys  their  statues. 
For  now  they  say, 
"We  have  no  king: 
for  Jehovah  we  have  not  feared, 
and  the  king — what  can  he  do  for  us  ?" 
They  talk  words, 

96  fruit]    Heb.  p'rl,  which  plays  upon  Ephraim. 

97  fruit)     An  allusion  to  Ephraim,  the  favorite   grandson,   and 
adopted  son,  of  Jacob-Israel ;  see  the  preceding  note. 

98  See  above,  note  67. 

99  Heb.  ^n.  as  in  CTJJ  H1DD  *fi  NIH  FttH  (Gen.  xx.  16)  and 
P^n  ton  "O  (Eccl-  v-  17)-     Of-  Rashi:  -Q-m  Kin- 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  153 

swear  falsely, 
make  covenants, 

and  justice  springs  up  like  a  poison-weed 
in  the  furrows  of  the  field.100 
(5)  For  the  she-calves101  of  Beth-Aven102 
Samaria's  inhabitants  tremble; 
its103  people  mourn  over  it, 
its  priests  writhe — 

over  its  glory,  that  is  departed  from  it. I04 
It,105  too,  is  carried  to  Assyria, 
a  present  for  the  grand-king.106 
Ephraim  shall  earn  disgrace, 
Israel  blush  for  his  device. 
Samaria's  king  is  undone, 
a  chip  upon  the  water. 
Aven's107  high-places  shall  be  destroyed, 
Israel's  sin; 

thorn  and  thistle  shall  ascend  their  altars. 
And  they  shall  say  to  the  mountains, 
"  Cover  us;" 

100  See  above,  note  67 

101  she-calves]  Wanton  young  women ;  cf.  Amos's  (iv.  1)  '  Bashan- 
cows.'  The  expression  is  derisively  chosen  with  regard  to  the 
golden  he-calf. 

102  Beth-El;  see  above,  p.  80. 

103  its]    Beth- Aven's  (Beth-El's). 

104  Over  the  carrying  off  of  its  golden  calf,  which  was  Beth-El's 
glory,  just  as  the  ark  of  the  covenant  which  was  carried  off  by  the 
Philistines  was  the  glory  of  ancient  Israel.     (See  above,  note  47.) 

105  Beth-El's  glory,  the  golden  calf. 

106  See  above,  note  61. 

101  Aven's]    Beth-Aven's  (Beth-El's). 


154  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

and  to  the  hills, 
"Fall  upon  us." 

'  From  the  days  of  Gibeah 
hast  thou  sinned,  0  Israel. 
Had  they  remained  there, 
no  war  would  have  befallen  them,  at  Gibeah, 
with  the  sons  of  Alvah. 108 
(10)  But  I,  desiring  it,  chastised  them, 
and  tribes  gathered  against  them, 
while  they  were  yoked  to  their  double  guilt. !09 

'  Ephraim  is  a  trained  heifer, 
who  loves  to  thresh, 
and  I  pass  over  her  fair  neck; 
I  yoke  Ephraim, 
Judah  must  plow, 
Jacob  must  harrow. 
Sow  ye  for  righteousness, 
reap  according  to  love, 
break  up  your  fallow  ground; 
it  is  time  to  seek  Jehovah, 
till  he  come, 

and  rain  righteousness  upon  you.' 
Ye  have  plowed  wickedness, 
have  reaped  iniquity, 
and  eaten  the  fruit  of  lying. 

108  The  crime  committed  at  Gibeah  (see  Judg.  xix.  xx.)  caused  the 
destruction  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  the  depopulation  of  the  dis- 
trict, and,  in  consequence,  the  aggressive  boldness  of  adjoining  non- 
Hebrew  tribes.     (See  note  P,  at  the  end  of  the  volume.) 

109  To  the  consequences  of  the  ravishment  and  murder  committed 
at  Gibeah. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  155 

For  thou  hast  trusted  in  thy  way,110 
in  the  multitude  of  thy  valiant  men. 
But  tumult  arises  among  thy  tribes, 
and  all  thy  strongholds  are  laid  waste, 
as  Shalman  laid  waste  Beth-Arhel 
in  the  day  of  battle; 

mother  and  children  were  dashed  to  pieces.111 
(15)  Thus  Beth-El  does  to  you, 

through  your  utter  wickedness — 
at  dawn  Israel's  king  perishes,  perishes. 

(XL) 
(1)      '  When  Israel  was  young, 
then  I  loved  him; 
out  of  Egypt  I  called  my  son. 
Men  called  them,112 
and  they  turned  away  from  them; 
they  sacrifice  to  the  Baals, 
burn  incense  to  graven  images. 
And  yet,  I  taught  Ephraim  to  walk ' — 
he  took  them  in  his  arms — 
'and  they  know  not  that  I  healed  them. 
With  men's  cords  I  drew  them,113 
with  bands  of  love; 
I  was  to  them 
a  lifter  up  of  the  yoke  on  their  jaws, 

110  in  thy  way]     Heb.  *p"H2>  *or  which  Ewald  and  others  sub- 
stitute ""p3"l2;  m  thy  chariots,  after  the  Septuagint;  cf.  Is.  xxxi.  1. 

111  See  note  Q,  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 

112  They  were  called  by  prophets. 

113  That  is,  I  treated  Ephraim,  the  heifer  (see  above),  like  a  human 
creature,  tenderly. 


156  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

and  gave  them  food  to  eat. 
(5)  He  shall  not  return  to  Egypt, 
but  the  Assyrian  is  his  king — 
because  they  refuse  to  turn  around. 
And  the  sword  shall  whirl  down  upon  his  cities, 
and  destroy  his  bars,  and  consume — 
because  of  their  devices. 
My  people  is  bent  on  turning  away  from  me; 
when  called  upward, 
it  rises  not  at  all. 

'How  could  I  give  thee  up,  0  Ephraim? 
surrender  thee,  0  Israel? 
Iioav  give  thee  up  like  Admah, 
make  thee  like  Zeboim?114 
My  heart  turns  within  me, 
all  my  compassion  is  kindled. 
I  will  not  execute  my  burning  wrath, 
I  will  not  turn  to  destroy  Ephraim; 
for  I  am  God — not  a  man — 
holy  in  thy  midst; 
I  come  not  with  fury. 
(10)      '  After  Jehovah  shall  they  go, 
who  roars  like  a  lion. 
For  he  will  roar, 

and  the  children  shall  come  trembling  from  the  sea; 
trembling  like  a  bird,  from  Egypt; 
like  a  dove,  from  Asshur's  land; 

114  Admah  .  .  .  Zeboim]  Towns  believed  by  the  Hebrews  to 
have  been  destroyed  simultaneously  with  Sodom  and  Gomorrha 
(Dcut.  xxix.  22;  cf.  Jer.  xlix.  18,  and  compare  Gen.  xiv.  2  with 
xix.  20  et  seq.). 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  IIEB11EWS.  157 

and  I  will  settle  them  in  their  abodes  ' — 
Jehovah's  utterance. 

(XII.  [XL]) 
(1  [12])      'Ephraim  surrounds  me  with  falsehood, 
Israel's  house  with  deceit, 
and  Judah  is  still  wayward  toward  God, 
toward  the  faithful  Holy  One. 
(XII.) 
(2  [1])  Ephraim  feeds  on  wind, 
runs  after  the  east-blast; 
all  day  he  heaps  up  lies  and  violence,115 
They  conclude  a  covenant  with  Assyria, 
and  oil  is  carried  to  Egypt.' — 
And  Jehovah  has  a  controversy  with  Judah, 
he  will  punish  Jacob  according  to  his  ways, 
he  will  repay  him  his  doings. 
In  the  womb  he  grasped  the   heel 1IG   of    his 

brother,117 
and  in  his  manly  vigor  he  grappled  with  God;118 
(5  [4])  he  victoriously  grappled  with  an  angel,1" 
who  wept  and  begged  him;120 


115  violence}  Heb.  -j^,  instead  of  which  the  Septuagint  had  X1lC> 
falsehood. 

116  grasped  the  lieel\  Heb.  'dqab,  whence  his  name  Jacob,  the 
grasper  by  the  heel  (Gen.  xxv.  26),  or  supplanter  (Gen.  xxvii.  36 ;  cf. 
Jer.  ix.  3). 

111  Ms  brotJiev']    Esau. 

us  Whence  his  name  Israel ;  see  Gen.  xxxii. 

1,9  This  is  an  explanation  of  the  preceding;   in  Zech.  xii.  8,  too, 
'  angel  of  Jehovah  '  explains  '  God.'    (Cf.  Gen.  xvi.  10,  13.) 
150  begged  Mm]    To  release  him. 


158  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

at  Beth-El  he  finds  him  again,121 
and  there  he  speaks  to  us.122 
Yet  Jehovah  is  the  God  of  Hosts, 
'  Jehovah '  is  his  memorial. 
And  thou — to  thy  God  turn, 
keep  love  and  right, 
and  constantly  trust  in  thy  God. 

'  In  Canaan's  hands  are  scales  of  deceit, 
he  loves  to  extort;123 
and  Ephraim  says, 
"I  have  only  grown  rich, 
have  earned  wealth: 
all  my  labors  earn  me  no  guilt 
that  would  be  a  crime." 
(10  [9])  Yet  /am  Jehovah,  thy  God, 
from  the  land  of  Egypt; 
I  will  still  make  thee  dwell  in  tents, 
as  in  the  days  of  the  feast. 124 
And  I  have  spoken  through  the  prophets, 
have  multiplied  visions, 
and  through  prophets  talked  parables. 

'  If  Gilead  is  a  fraud, 
they  are  but  deceit. 

121  Cf.  Gen.  xxxv.  9  et  seg.,  where  the  story  is  completed. 

122  Hosea  apparently  turns  the  whole  narrative  into  ridicule:  all 
the  sanctity  of  Beth-El  rests  on  the  foolish  belief  of  God's  wrestling 
with  a  man,  succumbing  to  him,  imploring  to  be  released,  and  show- 
ing his  gratitude  by  calling  his  victor  Israel,  and  taking  up  his  abode 
at  the  place  where  he  meets  him  again. 

123  Ephraim  has  not  only  inherited  the  evil  propensities  of  Jacob, 
but  also  those  of  the  former  owner  of  his  land,  the  Canaanite. 

124  t/ie  feast]     Of  tabernacles. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  159 

In  Gilgal  they  sacrifice  bullocks — 

all  their  altars  are  like  stone-heaps 

in  the  furrows  of  the  field. 126 

Jacob  ran  away  to  the  plain  of  Aram;1*8 

Israel  served  for  a  wife, 

and  for  a  wife  he  was  a  keeper. 

So  Jehovah,  through  a  prophet, 

brought  Israel  up  from  Egypt, 

and  by  a  prophet  he  was  kept. 
(15  [14])  Ephraim  has  aroused  most  bitter  wrath: 

so  the  blood  he  sheds  shall  be  thrown  upon  him, 

and  his  shame  turned  against  him,  by  his  Lord. 
(XIII.) 
(1)      '  When  Ephraim  spoke,  there  was  terror; 
he  exalted  himself  in  Israel, 
but  offended  through  Baal,  and  died.127 
Now  they  add  to  their  sins, 

making  for  themselves  molten  images  of  their  silver, 
idols  according  to  their  skill, 
the  work  of  artists  throughout; 

125  Gilead,  the  heap  (gal)  that  was  to  be  witness  ('ed)  of  oaths  of 
friendships  confirmed  by  sacrifices,  has  proved  a  fraud,  and  Gilgal's 
altars,  too,  are  but  heaps  (gal-gal)  of  stone,  and  everything  in  the 
land  is  deceit.     (See  above,  note  67.) 

126  Jacob  fled  before  his  brother  Esau,  whom  he  had  defrauded,  to 
Aram-Naharaim,  or  Mesopotamia,  where  he  served  Laban  twice  seven 
years,  tending  his  flocks,  for  the  sake  of  his  daughter  Rachel  (Gen. 
xxviii.,  xxix). 

121  and  died]  In  Heb.  no"^  probably  by  mistake  for  "m^i,  and  re- 
belled; cf.  nn^Q  "O  m  verse  1  of  the  following  chapter,  and 
CTHEI"!  (a  word  of  a  kindred  stem)  in  the  last  verse  of  the  pre- 
ceding. 


160  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

of  them  it  can  be  said, 
"  Human  sacrificers128 
kissing  calves  I" 
Therefore  they  shall  be 
as  the  morning  cloud, 
as  the  early,  vanishing  dew, 
as  chaff  whirled  out  of  the  threshing-floor, 
or  smoke  out  of  a  window. 
Yet  /  am  Jehovah,  thy  God, 
from  the  land  of  Egypt, 
and  no  deity  but  me  shalt  thou  know; 
there  is  no  savior  besides  me. 
(5)  I  knew  thee  in  the  wilderness, 
in  the  land  of  burning  heats. 
According  to  their  pasture,  they  became  satisfied; 
they  became  satisfied,  and  their  heart  was  uplifted; 
thereupon  they  forgot  me. 
And  I  became  like  a  lion  to  them, 
like  a  leopard  I  lurk  in  the  way; 
I  attack  them  like  a  bereaved  bear, 
rend  the  enclosure  of  their  heart, 
and  prey  on  them  there  like  a  lioness; 
the  beast  of  the  field  tears  them  in  pieces. 

m  After  Kimhi,  Ewald,  and  others.  Wellhausen  ('  Geschichte 
Israels,'  vol.  i.  p.  91),  contending  against  the  notion  that  Hosea  here 
ridicules  the  practice  of  human  sacrifices,  of  which  there  is  no  trace 
in  the  Israelitish  records  of  those  times,  well  remarks,  '  Menschenopf  er 
wiirde  der  Prophet  schwerlich  nur  so  beilaufig,  mehr  in  Spott  als  in 
der  Entrustung,  tadeln ;  er  wiirde  das  Emporende,  Scheussliche  der 
Tat  viel  mehr  hervorheben  als  das  Widersinnige.  Also  bedeutet 
C~1N  TQT  w0':  Opfernde  aus  dem  Genus  Mensch.' 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  161 

It  destroys  thee,  0  Israel, 

that  thou  art  against  me,  thy  help.1" 
(10)  Where  is  thy  king  then, 

that  he  may  help  thee  in  all  thy  cities? 

where  are  thy  governors,  about  whom  thou  saidst, 

"  Give  me  a  king  and  princes"? 

I  give  thee  kings  in  my  anger, 

and  take  them  away  in  my  wrath. 
*  Ephraim's  guilt  is  bound  up, 

his  sin  is  stored  away. 

A  mother's  throes  have  come  for  him, 

but  he  is  an  unwise  son : 

at  the  time,  he  appears  not 

where  babes  break  through. 

From  the  power  of  hell  shall  I  ransom  them? 

from  death  redeem  them? 

Where  are  thy  plagues,  0  death? 

where  is  thy  havoc,  0  hell? 

regret  shall  be  hid  from  my  eyes. 
(15)  Though,  among  the  brethren,  he130  grow  luxuriantly, 

there  comes  the  east-blast — 

Jehovah's  wind, 

rising  from  the  desert — 

and  his  fountain  parches  away, 

his  spring  dries  up. 


1,29  {fiat  .  .  .  help]  Heb.  'pTjn  ""D  "0>  instead  of  which 
Schorr  ('  He'halut;,'  x.  94)  reads  -PHJJ3  iq  "Q,  for  who  is  thy  help? 
Cf.  the  following,  'Where  is  thy  king  then?' 

130  he]  Ephraim,  a  name  played  upon  in  the  following  verb  (of  the 
original). 


162  THE  HISTORICAL  POETRY 

'  That  one131  robs  the  treasury 
of  all  precious  things. 

(XIV.  [XIII.]) 
(1  [16])  Samaria  shall  atone, 

for  she  has  rebelled  against  her  God. 
By  the  sword  they  shall  fall, 
their  infants  shall  be  dashed  to  pieces, 
their  pregnant  women  ripped  up.' 1M 
(XIV.) 
(2  [1])      Return,  0  Israel, 
to  Jehovah,  thy  God: 
thou  hast  stumbled  through  thy  guilt. 
Take  words  with  you, 
and  turn  to  Jehovah; 
say  to  him, 
'  Forgive  all  guilt, 
and  accept  the  good; 

we  will  pay,  as  if  with  bullocks,  with  our  lips.133 
Assyria  cannot  save  us, 
steeds  we  will  not  mount, 

nor  say  "our  God"  to  the  work  of  our  hands — 
while  with  thee  the  orphan  finds  compassion.' — 
(5  [4])      'I  will  heal  their  defection, 


131  That  east-blast — that  is,  the  foe  from  the  east,  the  Assyrian. 

132  This  is  predicted,  perhaps,  as  a  retribution  for  atrocities  com- 
mitted by  King  Menahem,  and  related  in  the  same  words  (II.  Kings 
xv.  16).  There  seems,  in  fact,  to  be  a  verbal  allusion  to  m'na'hem  in 
no'ham  (verse  14  of  the  preceding  chapter  in  our  book),  and  there  is, 
perhaps,  another  in  ben  a'hlm  (verse  15),  replacing  min  a'him. 

133  The  substitution  of  *hDq  for  CHD.  after  the  Septuagint, 
changes  the  rendering  into  we  will  pay  of  the  fruit  of  our  lips. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS.  163 

will  love  them  from  generosity — 
for  my  anger  has  turned  away  from  him. 
I  will  be  as  dew  to  Israel: 
he  shall  bloom  as  the  lily, 
and  strike  his  roots  as  Lebanon; 
his  shoots  shall  spread, 
and  his  beauty  be  like  the  olive-tree's, 
and  his  fragrance  like  Lebanon's.' 
Once  more  they  who  dwell  in  his134  shade 
will  call  corn  to  life, 
will  bloom  like  a  vine 
renowned  like  the  wine  of  Lebanon. 
Ephraim:  'What  care  I  for  idols  any  more?' — 
'  I  answer,  I  look  at  him: 
I  am  like  a  verdant  cypress — 
in  me  thy  fruit  is  found.' — 
(10  [9])      Who  is  wise,  to  understand  all  this? 
who  intelligent,  to  discern  it  all? 
Yea,  Jehovah's  ways  are  straight; 
in  them  the  righteous  walk, 
and  the  rebellious  stumble.135 

m  /it's]    God's,  who  has  spoken. 

135  The  last  lines  are  an  epilogue  to  the  whole  hook. 


NOTES. 


A. 

(See  above,  p.  10.) 

Concerning  the  occurrence  of  Greek  words  in  Can- 
ticles the  following  from  Graetz's  '  Schir  ha-Schirim ' 
(p.  54)  is  worth  quoting :  '  Zum  grossten  Verdruss  der 
Ausleger,  welche  das  H.  L.  alt  machen,  kommt  darin  das 
Wort  ]THDK  vor,  und  die  griechische  Version  giebt  es  mit 
cpopsiov  S  a  n  f  t  e,  Tragsessel,  Tragbett  wieder. 
Der  Kirchenvater  Hieronymus,  obwohl  kein  besonders 
philologisch  geschulter  Exeget,  erkannte  ebenfalls  in  lVHDtt 
das  griechische  cpopslor.  In  der  neuhebr.  Literatur  wird 
1YHDK  ohne  weiteres  als  Sanf  te  gebraucht.  .  .  .  H  a  r  t- 
mann  bezeichnet  daher  dieses  Wort  als  Merkmal  der 
Jugend  des  H.  L.  .  .  .:  "  Was  liegt  Unwahrscheinliches 
darin,  dass  wiihrend  der  selucidischen  Periode,  in  welche 
das  H.  L.  friihestens  gesetzt  werden  kann,  das  Wort 
cpopsiov,  womit  die  Juden  zuerst  in  Syrien  bekannt  wur- 
den,  ...  in  die  hebr.  Sprache  eingeburgert  wurde  ?" 
Magnus  erkannte  ebenfalls  den  griechischen  Ursprung 
des  Wortes  1VHDK  an,  nur  meinte  er  (S.  156),  es  konnte 
erst  spiiter  fiir  ein  hebraisches  substituirt  worden  sein.' 
Even  Delitzsch,  who  labors  hard,  and  as  unsatisfacto- 
rily as  Ewald,  Hitzig,  and  others  did  before  him,  to  find 
a  non- Greek  derivation  for  appiryon,  cannot  suppress 
these  remarks  :  '  The  sound  of  the  word,  the  connection, 
and  the  description  led  the  Greek  translators  the  (LXX., 


166  NOTES. 

Venet.,  and  perhaps  also  others)  to  render  VfHEJK  by 
(popeiov,  litter,  palanquin  (Vulg.  ferculum).  The  ap- 
piryon here  described  has  a  silver  pedestal  and  purple 
cushion — just  as  we  read  in  Athenaeus  v.  13  .  .  .  that 
the  philosopher  and  tyrant  Athenion  showed  himself  "  on 
a  silver-legged  cpopeiov,  with  purple  coverlet."  . 
The  Mishna,  Sofa  ix.  14,  uses  appirybn  in  the  sense  of 
phoreioji:  "In  the  last  war  (that  of  Hadrian)  it  was  de- 
creed that  a  bride  should  not  pass  through  the  town  in  an 
appiryon."  ...  In  the  Midrash  also — Bammidbar 
rabba,  c.  12,  and  elsewhere — the  appiryon  of  the  passage 
before  us  is  taken  in  all  sorts  of  allegorical  significations,  in 
most  of  which  the  identity  of  the  word  with  cpopeiov  is 
supposed.'  He  also  adds:  'While  Schlotten  is  inclined  to 
take  appiryon,  in  the  sense  of  a  litter,  as  a  word  borrowed 
from  the  Greek,  .  .  .  Gesen.  in  his  Thes.  seeks  to 
derive  it,  thus  understood,  from  JT19>  cito  ferri,  currere; 
but  this  signification  of  the  verb  is  imaginary.'  (On  Cant. 
ili.  9;  Easton's  translation.)  But  to  Delitzsch — as  it  was 
to  Ewald — '  a  Greek  word  in  the  Song  is  in  itself  so  im- 
probable '  that  he  supposed  appiryon  to  be  '  an  originally 
Semitic  word,  which  the  Greek  language  adopted  at  the 
time  when  the  Oriental  and  Graeco-Roman  customs  began 
to  be  amalgamated.'  It  is,  however,  a  very  strange  philo- 
logical proceeding  to  derive  a  Greek  word  with  the  plainest 
of  Greek  derivations  (<pop€lov,  portable  chair,  litter,  from 
cpepoj,  to  carry)  from  a  Biblical  ontaB,  Xeyo^ievov,  for 
which  a  plausible  derivation  from  a  Semitic  root  is  vainly 
sought.  In  the  same  way  we  might  derive  ffv^icpoovia 
from  sumponydh  in  Dan.  iii.  5.  And  to  find  'a  Greek 
word  in  the  Song  improbable '  requires  a  faith  in  the  an- 


NOTES.  167 

tiquity  of  the  book  not  to  be  shaken  by  linguistic  evi- 
dence. The  word  kopher,  which  occurs  twice  in  the  Song 
(i.  14,  iv.  13)  and  nowhere  else  in  the  Bible,  Delitzsch 
himself  identifies  with  nvntpos,  a  shrub  'abundunt  in 
Cyprus'  (Passow  s.  v.),  and  though  the  island  of  Cyprus 
may  have  received  its  name  from  its  cypress  trees,  and  the 
cypress  its  own  from  a  Semitic  word  identical  with  Ileb. 
gopher  (see  Vanicek,  '  Fremdworter  im  Griechischen  und 
Lateinischen,'  p.  29),  the  name  of  the  shrub  in  Greek  is 
evidently  derived  from  the  name  of  the  island,  while  in 
Hebrew  it,  too,  is  without  a  plausible  Semitic  derivation. 
Graetz  is  probably  right  also  in  regard  to  mezeg  (Cant, 
vii.  3),  which  he  derives  from  jxiayoa ;  and  if  the  Hebrew 
verb  mdsakh,  as  in  "Q^  "ICQ?  (Is.  v.  22),  has  the  meaning 
of  mixing,  which  he  denies,  the  use  in  Canticles  of  mezeg 
(as  it  is  used  in  post-Biblical  Hebrew),  instead  of  mesekh, 
is  only  another  proof  that  the  book  is  a  product  of  a  time  in 
which  Greek  words  of  similar  sound,  and  perhaps  kindred 
origin,  began  to  be  substituted  for  older,  purely  vernacular 
terms.  Graetz's  conjecture  as  to  CD"1D1  TD  CH"0  EJ7  C"lDD 
(Cant.  iv.  13,  14),  where  he  substitutes  the  post-Biblical 
CH"il  (—  /Soda,  Mo\.  /3  pod  a,  roses)  for  CTH3,  nards,  be- 
cause the  poet  would  not  have  repeated  the  word  nard,  is 
even  by  Delitzsch  acknowledged  to  be  'beautiful,'  though 
he  feels  bound  to  add,  'but  for  us,  who  believe  the  poem 
to  be  Solomonic,  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  history  of 
roses.'  Those  who  are  not  fettered  by  such  a  belief  will 
find  it  strikingly  correct.  A  perhaps  unnecessary  support 
for  it  can  also  be  found  in  the  Talmud,  'Niddah'  8a, 
where  v'rdd  (or  vdrdd)  and  kopher  (podov  and  HV7rpo?, 
which  remind  us  of  'Podo?  and  Kv7rpo?)  appear  connected 


168  NOTES. 

as  Graetz's  emendation  connects  them  in  the  Song.  Of 
course,  the  Hebrews  might  have  received  their  name  for 
rose  more  or  less  directly  from  the  Iranians,  from  whom 
the  Greeks  received  both  their  rose  and  its  name  (Vanicek, 
I.  c,  p.  45);  but  the  'history  of  roses,'  the  name  of  which 
occurs  nowhere  else  in  the  Old  Testament — the  Authorized 
Version's  '  rose '  is  incorrect — the  frequent  use  of  v'rdd  in 
the  Talmud,  and  the  form  of  this  word  itself  are  sufficient 
evidence  of  a  very  late  incorporation  of  the  term.  That 
Graetz  easily  recognized  in  talpiyyoth  (Cant.  iv.  4)  a  non- 
Hebrew  word  is  but  natural,  but  that  he  did  not  discover 
in  it  an  imitation  of  the  Greek  rponala,  trophies,  which 
the  context  so  obviously  shows  it  to  be,  is  surprising.  We 
read  of  'a  tower  of  David,  built  for  talpiyyoth,''  on  which 
are  hung  '  the  shields  of  the  gibborlni ':  no  other  word  will 
answer  here  to  talpiyyoth  so  well  as  rponaia,  both  in 
sound  and  meaning.  And  there  is  apparently  in  the  verse 
an  allusion  to  '  the  golden  shields '  of  Hadadezer's  officers 
which  '  David  brought  to  Jerusalem '  (II.  Sam.  viii.  7) — 
trophies  won  by  his  famous  gibborlni.  Whether  in  giving 
the  Greek  word  a  Semitic  form  the  Hebrews  thought  of 
making  it  a  compound  implying  tdldh,  to  hang  up,  and 
piyyoth,  edges,  in  the  sense  of  'hereb  piyyoth,  a  two-edged 
sword  (Prov.  v.  4),  may  be  left  undecided.  (Cf.,  however, 
Ezek.  xxvii.  10,  11.)  That  the  r  sound  was  changed  into 
I  cannot  surprise  us,  if  we  compare  the  Talmudical 
marg'lithd  with  fiapyacpiTijS,  Talm.  palhedrln  and  par- 
hedrin  with  rtaptSpoi,  Talm.  'hard'llth  with  xaP<xdpa> 
Lat.  lilium  with  Xsipwv — not  to  speak  of  Heb.  mazzdroth 
and  mazzdloth,  Heb.  sharshWdh  and  Chald.  sharsh'ldh, 
Heb.  almdndh  and  Chald.  arm'' Id,  or  similar  interchanges 


NOTES.  169 

of  the  liquids  in  Semitic  tongues.  And  that  the  Hebrews 
changed  into  n  not  only  the  S-  of  the  Greeks  (as  Geiger 
asserts  in  his  '  Lehrbuch  znr  Sprache  der  Mischnah,'  p. 
20),  but  also  their  r,  is  sufficiently  proved,  by  ]"nr\JDD  (f°r 
qjaXrrjpiov)  in  Dan.  iii.  5,  7,  15.  It  is,  perhaps,  needless 
to  add  that  the  Greek  word  for  trophy  is  as  genuinely 
Hellenic  as  the  Greek  word  for  symphony,  and  can  as 
little  as  the  latter  be  derived  from  a  word  in  the  Old 
Testament. — Of  course,  a  few  derivations  from  the  Greek 
of  words  in  Canticles  would  not  sufficiently  support  each 
other,  if  there  were  no  other  proofs  to  convince  us  that 
the  book  is  a  product  of  a  period  as  late  as  the  time  of 
the  Seleucidae  and  Ptolemies.  Such  proofs,  however,  have 
been  accumulated  by  Graetz,  after  A.  T.  Hartmann,  in  the 
utmost  abundance.  In  fact,  it  requires  little  more  than 
the  unprejudiced  reading  of  the  first  chapter  of  the 
Song   (with  its  ^a^n   "OPDtttW.    "6ttf   'XTDt   nj^tf,    -y 

•fititw*  njnn  n^x  for  njnn  now.  n;tpi?>*  rrjrv  etna 

C^rTTQj  etc.,  etc.)  to  convince  us  that  we  have  before  us  a 
poet  whose  diction  reflects  the  transition  from  pure  Old 

*Like  ITJH'  iTIOJ?  *s  an  irregular  fem.  derivative,  designating 
the  female  l^y,  vulture  (or  bird  of  prey,  generally;  here  perhaps 
eagle,  like  deroS,  poet.  aieroS).  Canticles  is  particularly  fond 
of  such  feminines;  cf.  the  immediately  following  HDD-  mare,  and 
nn3j  she-kid,  which,  like    rP3!J»  she-gazelle  (iv    5,    vii.  4),    and 

t   •  :  t  •   : 

niN'2iJ  (u-  7,  iii.  5),  appear  in  no  other  book.  The  sense  thus  ob- 
tained  for  verse  7  is  excellent :  The  shepherdess  begs  her  friend  to 
tell  her  where  he  feeds,  where  his  flock  rests  at  noon :  why,  in 
searching  for  him,  should  she  hover  about  the  flocks  of  his  com- 
panions, like  a  she-vulture  hovering  above  feeding  lambs,  and 
craving  to  descend  upon  one,  unobserved  by  the  shepherds? 


170 


NOTES. 


Hebrew  to  the  language  of  the  Mishnah  almost  as  strongly 
as  it  is  reflected  in  the  poorer  prose  of  the  author  of 
Ecclesiastes,  '  one  of  the  most  recent  of  the  books  of  the 
0.  T.'  even  according  to  Delitzsch  ('Introduction'  to  his 
'  Ecclesiastes').  It  is  surely  not  necessary  to  adopt  all  of 
Graetz's  emendations  and  historico-critical  conjectures — 
ranging  through  various  degrees  of  plausibility — to  find 
his  principal  conclusion  firmly  established. 


(See  p.  11.) 


The  following  is  the  chronology  of  the  successors   of 
Solomon  according  to  Oppert: 


Kings  of  Judah. 
978  Rehoboam  I. 

960  Abijah. 
958  Asa. 


917  Jehoshaphat. 


Kings  of  Israel. 
977  Jeroboam. 

956  Nadab. 

955  Baasha. 

932  Elah. 

931  Omri  with  Tibni. 

927  Omri  alone. 

920  Ahab. 


900  Ahaziah. 

899  Joram. 
895  Jehoshaphat  with  Jehoram. 
892  Jehoram  alone. 
888  Ahaziah. 


NOTES. 


171 


Kings  of  Judah, 

Kings  of  Israel. 

887  Athaliah. 

887  Jehu. 

881  Joash. 

859  Jehoahaz. 

842  Joash. 

840  Amaziah. 

825  Jeroboam  II, 

811  Uzziah. 

758  Jotham. 
743  Ahaz. 


798-787  Foreign  domination. 
787  Jeroboam  again. 
773  Zachariah. 
772  Shallum. 

"    Menahem  I. 
762  Pekahiah. 
759  Pekah. 


742  Menahem  II. 


733  Pekah  again. 
730  Hoshea. 


721  Capture  of  Samaria. 


727  Hezekiah. 

698  Manasseh. 
642  Anion. 
640  Josiah. 
609  Jehoahaz. 
608  Jehoiakim. 
598  Jehoiachin. 

"    Zedekiah. 
587  Destruction  of  Jerusalem. 


This  list,  though  a  work  of  recent  date  (first  published 
in  the  Annales  de  philosophie  chretienne  of  1876),  and  of  a 


172  NOTES. 

famous  Assyriologist,  differs  but  little  from  the  correspond- 
ing chronologies  of  Clinton  ('Fasti  Hellenici,'  1824-1834) 
and  Zunz  ('Zeittafel'  to  his  Bible,  1837),  published  before 
Assyriology  began  to  affect  Biblical  criticism.  Some  of 
the  more  interesting  dates  according  to  these  scholars  may 
be  compared:  Jeroboam  L,  976  (Clinton),  978  (Zunz); 
Ahab,  919  (C),  920  (Z.);  Jehu,  883  (C),  885  (Z.);  Jero- 
boam II.,  823  (C),  824  (Z.);  Zachariah,  after  an  inter- 
regnum, 771  (C),  772  (Z.);  Shallum,  770  (C),  772  (Z.); 
Menahem,  770  (C),  772  (Z.);  Pekahiah,  759  (C),  760  (Z.); 
Pekah,  757  (C),  758  (Z.);  Hoshea,  after  an  interregnum, 
730  (C),  729  (Z.);  capture  of  Samaria,  721  (C),  720  (Z.); 
Manasseh,  697  (C),  696  (Z.);  Zedekiah,  598  (C),  597  (Z.); 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  587  (C),  586  (Z.).  It  is,  how- 
ever, a  conjecture  of  his  own,  of  earlier  date  than  the 
table  given  above,  which  makes  it  possible  for  Oppert  to 
save  the  chronology  of  the  Bible  without  disregarding  the 
records  of  the  Assyrian  monuments.  That  conjecture 
supposes  a  break  in  the  Assyrian  'Canon  of  Eponyms/ 
a  list  corresponding  to  the  lists  of  eponymal  archons  in 
Athens,  and  in  parts  containing  a  mention  of  the  principal 
events  which  took  place  during  the  annual  terms  of  the 
eponyms.  Other  Assyriologists,  less  anxious  to  harmonize 
the  Scriptural  statements  with  the  results  obtained  from 
the  decipherment  of  cuneiform  inscriptions,  reject  the 
former  as  founded  on  less  authentic  tradition.  Foremost 
among  the  upholders  of  the  monumental  dates  against  the 
texts  of  I.  and  II.  Kings  is  Schrader,  who  exhibits  the 
discrepancies  between  parts  of  the  Assyrian  and  Hebrew 
chronologies  in  the  following  table  ('Die  Keilinschriften 
und  das  Alte  Testament,'  1872,  p.  299),  here  abridged: 


NOTES.  173 

On  the  monuments.  In  tlie  Bible 

Ahab,  854  (at  the  battle  of  Qarqar).  918-896  (reign). 

Jehu,  842  (pays  tribute).  884-857       " 

Azariah  (Uzziah),  745-739  (in  conflict 

with  Tiglath-Pileser).  809-759       " 

Menahem,  738  (pays  tribute).  771-761 

Pekah,  734  (vanquished   by  Tiglath- 
Pileser).  758-738 

Hezekiah,   701    (threatened   by  Sen-  714  (Sennacherib's 
nacherib's  invasion).  invasion). 

George  Smith,  in  his  '  Assyrian  Eponym  Canon '  (p. 
153),  says:  'The  first  point  of  contact  in  the  period  of 
the  canon,  between  the  Assyrian  and  Hebrew  histories, 
occurs  in  the  eponymy  of  Dayan-assur,  B.C.  854,  when  the 
annals  of  Shalmaneser  mention  a  prince  named  Ahab, 
.  .  .  and  as  the  date  of  this  event  is  more  than  forty 
years  after  the  date  of  the  death  of  Ahab  king  of  Israel, 
according  to  the  Bible  chronology,  this  has  given  rise  to 
several  attempts  to  adjust  the  two  histories  so  as  to  make 
them  agree.  One  of  the  first  in  the  field  in  this  direction 
was  Professor  Oppert,  who  holds  the  opinion  that  there  is 
a  break  of  forty-seven  years  in  the  eponym  canon,  between 
the  eponym  'Nergal-nazir,  B.C.  746,  and  the  accession  of 
Tiglath-Pileser,  which  he  lowers  to  B.C.  744.  He  thus 
lowers  all  the  later  Assyrian  dates  one  year,  and  raises  the 
earlier  ones  forty-six  years,  identifying  the  eclipse  in  the 
eponymy  of  Esdusarabe,  B.C.  763,  with  one  which  hap- 
pened B.C.  809.  ...  I  have  given  my  reasons  for  not 
agreeing  with  this  theory,  and  for  similar  reasons  I  have 
objected  to  the  proposed  gaps  in  the  canon.'     And  after 


174 


NOTES. 


expressing  his  faith  in  the  accuracy  both  of  the  Assyrian 
canon  and  the  Biblical  chronology  of  the  successors  of 
Solomon,  which  prevents  him  from  following  either  Oppert 
and  Haigh  (1871),  who  variously  alter  the  Assyrian  dates, 
or  Ernst  von  Bunsen  (1874)  and  Professor  Brandes  (1874), 
who  reduce  the  Biblical  ones  by  over  forty  years,  he  adds: 
'  I  would  suggest,  instead  of  these  chronological  altera- 
tions, that  some  of  the  Biblical  names  in  the  Assyrian 
annals  on  which  they  are  based  either  do  not  refer  to  the 
kings  supposed,  or  are  errors  on  the  part  of  the  Assyrians. 
If  we  allow  that  the  Ahab  and  Jehu  mentioned  in  the 
Assyrian  records  may  not  be  the  Ahab  and  Jehu  of  the 
Bible,  we  are  not    under  the  necessity  of    altering  the 
chronology  of  either  nation  in  order  to  make  the  Assyrian 
notices  fit  the  time  of  the  Hebrew  monarchs.'     He  then 
gives  his  own  views  of  the  dates  of  the  accession  of  the 
Hebrew  kings  according  to  the  Bible  in  a  table  '  which 
varies  very  little  from  the  chronology  of  Ussher,'  and  of 
which  the  following  embraces  the  most  important  points: 


Judah. 


Israel. 


981  Rehoboam, 

Jeroboam 

921     . 

Ahab. 

899      . 

Ahaziah. 

885  Athaliah, 

Jehu. 

824     . 

Jeroboam 

773      . 

Zachariah 

772      . 

Menahem 

761      . 

Pekahiah. 

759     . 

Pekah. 

729      . 

Hoshea. 

726  Hezekiah. 
720     . 

Capture  oj 

NOTES.  175 

An  entirely  new  reconstruction  of  the  chronology  of  the 
Bible,  as  well  as  of  that  of  Assyria  and  Egypt,  has  been 
attempted,  with  an  immense  display  of  research,  by  Johann 
Raska  ('  Die  Chronologie  der  Bibel  im  Einklange  mit  der 
Zeitrechnung  der  Egypter  und  Assyrier,'  1878).  He  en- 
deavors to  harmonize  the  Bible  with  the  monuments  by 
arduous  computations  and  bold  rectifications,  and  obtains 
dates  as  startling  as  the  following:  Jeroboam  I.,  990;  Ahab, 
934;  Jehu,  895;  Jeroboam  II.,  842;  Hezekiah,  746;  Ma- 
nasseh,  717 — with  the  corresponding  changes  in  the  dates 
of  the  Shalmanesers,  Tiglath-Pileser,  Sargon,  Sennacherib, 
etc.  Schrader,  followed  by  Duncker,  Sayce,  Maspero,  and 
others,  and  attacked  by  Gutschmid  (most  heavily  in  '  Neue 
Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  des  alten  Orients,'  1876)  and  by 
Wellhausen,  has  defended  his  Assyriological  faith,  against 
the  authority  of  the  texts  of  the  Bible  as  we  have  them,  in 
an  extensive  work,  *  Keilinschrif ten  und  Geschichtsfor- 
schung'  (1878).  In  reviewing  this  book  in  the  'Zeitschrift 
der  Deutschen  Morgenlandischen  Gesellschaf t '  (1879), 
Noldeke  makes  this  cautious  remark  respecting  the  main 
points  which  interest  us  here:  '  Dass  Konig  Ahab  von  Israel 
auf  einer  assyrischen  Inschrift  vorkommt,  macht  Schrader 
jetzt  ziemlich  wahrscheinlich.  Doch  bleibt  immer  noch 
bedenklich,  1)  dass  audi  nach  seinen  Erorterungen  die  Le- 
sungdes  ersten  Zeichens  von  Sir-a-la-ai  {='b^TW^)  nicht 
ganz  sicher  ist,  2)  dass  eben  der  Konig,  welcher  ein  Sohn 
des  Omri  ist,  nicht  als  solcher  bezeichnet  ware,  wohl  aber 
Jehu,  welcher  gerade  durch  eine  hochst  blutige  TJm- 
walzung  Omri's  Haus  gesturzt  hatte.  Und  dass  Konig 
Azarja  von  Juda  inschriftlich  beglaubigt  ware,  will  mir 
auch    jetzt  noch    nicht    einleuchten;    Wellhausen's    und 


176  NOTES. 

Gutschmid's  Einwiirfe  sind  von  Schrader  nicht  wirklich 
widerlegt.'  Decades  may  still  elapse  before  a  more  posi- 
tive decision  in  these  matters  will  be  agreed  upon  by 
Assyriologists  and  by  Biblical  critics  uninitiated  into  the 
cuneiform  mysteries.  For  our  purposes  here  it  is  not 
needed.     (Cf.  above,  p.  87  et  seq.) 

C. 

(See  p.  21.) 

In  the  same  narrative  in  I.  Kings  occurs  also  "ga 
(k'tkib)  for  N^D  (xxi.  21:  -j^N  "^d  "OHil),  which  is  also 
to  be  found  in  II.  Sam.  v.  2  (^N"itiv>  HK  ^DEiT),  Jer.  xix. 
15  (^yn  ^N  ^a  ^3n),  and  Jer.  xxxix.  16  (nN  "OB  ^jH 
'HDl),  always  in  Fthib  form.  It  is  worth  noticing  that  in 
each  of  these  cases  the  K  is  dropped  before  another  K;  in  j^j 
nyin  "QK  (also  Fth'ib,  I.  Kings  xxi.  29)  it  is  before  a  n*    In 

rrnrr'nK  "•tonn  ]ycb  (Jer.  xxxii.  35)  and  nipn  Y?n  (Ezek. 

xli.  8)  the  case  is  similar;  ^ntsns  (Gen.  xx.  6)  happens  to 
correspond  to  -^  ^3K  in  Mic.  i.  15.  DjnT1  "Q*1"!  (I.  Kings 
xii.  12)  may  be  a  clerical  error,  like  which  there  are  two 
others  in  the  same  chapter  (3,  21).— Compare  such  regular 
forms  as  -)ofr>  "inx,  or  ^>XD"V  and  the  exceptional  D^Dn 
(for  D^llDNiT  Eccl.  iv.  14)  and  D^DIH  (for  D^NiTI>  H. 
Chr.  xxii.  5). 

D. 

(See  p.  47.) 

The  following  is  a  part  of  Knobel's  remarks  in  his 
introduction  to  Is.  xv.,  xvi.  (including  a  few  words  of  his 
editor,  Diestel):  'Dass  der  Epilog  16,  13.  14.,  worin  fast 
jedes  Wort  jesajanischer   Sprachgebrauch  ist,  von  Jesaia 


NOTES.  177 

herriihre,    die   voranstehende   Prophetic   15-16,    12.   aber 
einem   altera   Propheten   angehore,  ist  von  den   meisten 
neueren  Exegeten  richtig  angenommen  worden  (Gesen.  de 
Wette,  Bosenm.  Hitz.  Maiir.  Eiu.  Umbr.  Meier,  Cheyne), 
wogegen  man  fruher  die  Aechtheit  nnangetastet  liess,  zum 
Theil    anch    noch   in   der  neuern  Zeit   (Eichh.   Credner, 
Hdivk.    Drechsl.   Del.).      Fur  die  Unachtheit 
entscheidet:    a)    die    iveichherzige   Theilnahme   gegen  ein 
sonst  verhasstes  auswilrtiges  Volk    .     .     .     ,  die  man  bei 
Jesaia  nicht  findet,  obschon  dieser  kern  Fanatiker  ist;  b) 
eine  Anzahl    eigcnthiimlicher,  zum  Theil   seltsamer  Ge- 
danken   und  Wendungen,  welche    ohne   Parallelen    sind, 
z.  B.  dass    man  auf   der    Strasse   Trauerkleider  anzieht, 
Geschrei   das   Land  umkreiset,    8ibma's  Weinstock    sich 
iiber  ganze  Gebiete  erstreckt,  seine  Ranken   beranschen, 
das  Herz  um  Moab  schreit  nnd  wie  die  Cither  rauschet, 
die  Thranen  des  Verf.  Hesbon  und  Eleale  benetzen  u.  a. 
.     .     .     ;  c)  eine  Anzahl  ahnlicher  beispielloser  Phrasen 
und  Ausdriicke  z.  B.     "022  Ti*  lief  tig  weinen,  j-jpjn  1JH17 
ein   Geschrei  erregen,   niDIi'Q  Ca   Wasser  sind  Wiisten, 
CDiyn  /~3  Bach  der  Ebenen,  TVZy  N^H    Rath  bringen, 
!"!/ vQ  nwy  Entscheidung  machen,  bn  rPttf  Schatten  setzen, 
bvi  TTTT  der  Schlachtruf  fallt     .     .     .     ;  d)  eine  Anzahl 
"Worter  und    Formen,    Bedeutungen    und    Beziehungen, 
•svelche    ebenfalls    nur   dem  Verf.   eigen    sind,    z.   B.  s*j 
sfolz,  n^pyQ   Ort  am  Flusse,  i"T1p9  Kostbarkeit,  "TH  ein 
Ruf  nur  noch  bei  Jer.,  niDDii  additamenta,  t>a  Bedriicker, 
DQl    Niedertreter  d.  i.  Unterdriicker,   HX?}  sich  miXlien 
vom  Beten,  "ly'y  erregen,  das  Pi.     "n^lfc?    .     .     .     ,  wozu 
noch  die  Hiiufung  des  "»3  denn    .     .     .     und  n  ^j?  darum 
.     .     .     kommt.     Kurz,  das  Stuck  ist  durch  und  durch 


178  NOTES. 

so  eigenthiimlich,  dass  nichts  weiter  im  A.  T.  von  dern- 
selben  Verf.  herriihren  kann.  Bestatigt  wird  dies  Alles 
nocli  e)  durch  die  Haltung  der  Eeden  im  Ganzen.  Die 
Darstellung  ist  ziemlich  ungelenk,  unbeholfen  und  schwer- 
fiillig;  sie  ermangelt  eines  kraftigen  Schwunges  und 
raschen,  gefalligen  Flusses;  die  Aufztihlung  der  Orts- 
namen  ist  trocken  und  nicht  mit  10,  28  ff.  zu  vergleichen; 
ihr  ganzer  Character  ist  alterthiimlich.' 

E. 

(See  p.  63.) 

Kir  is  coupled  by  Isaiah  (xxii.  6)  with  Elam,  or  Susiana. 
The  original  home  of  the  Syrians  (Aram)  according  to 
Amos  (ix.  7),  it  was  also,  as  stated  in  II.  Kings  xvi.  9,  the 
land  to  which  Tiglath  -  Pileser  removed  the  people  of 
Damascus.  '  These  notices,  and  the  word  itself,'  says 
George  Eawlinson  (Smith's  'Dictionary  of  the  Bible,' 
s.  v.),  ' are  all  the  data  we  possess  for  determining  the  site. 
A  variety  of  conjectures  have  been  offered  on  this  point, 
grounded  on  some  similarity  of  name.  Eennell  suggested 
A'wrdistan  .  .  .  ;  Vitringa,  Carine,  a  town  of  Media; 
Bochart  .  .  .  ,  Curena,  or  Cwrna,  likewise  in  Media. 
But  the  common  opinion  among  recent  commentators  has 
been  that  a  tract  on  the  river  Kur  or  Cyrus  (Kvpo?)  is 
intended.  This  is  the  view  of  Kosenmuller,  Michaelis, 
and  Gesenius.  Winer  sensibly  remarks  that  the  tract  to 
which  these  writers  refer  "  never  belonged  to  Assyria," 
and  so  cannot  possibly  have  been  the  country  whereto 
Tiglath-Pileser  transported  his  captives.'  Ewald,  Furst, 
and  Delitzsch  share  the  common  opinion;  the  last-named 


NOTES.  179 

(on  Is.  xxii.  6)  does  it,  however,  with  some  reserve,  re- 
marking, '  Jedoch  hat  -pp  vorn  k  und  im  Inlaut  i,  wiihrend 
jener  (mit  dem  Araxes  sich  vereinigende  und  ins  caspische 
Meer  mundende)  Fluss  Kur  lautet  und  im  Persischen 
(entspr.  dem  Armen.  und  Altpers.,  wo  Kuru  =  Kvpos)  mit 
£>  geschrieben  wird.'  Schrader  (in  Eiehm's  *  Handworter- 
buch  des  Biblischen  Altertums,'  s.  v.)  shares  both  this  and 
Winer's  objection  to  the  common  identification:  It  cannot 
be  proved  that  the  region  on  the  Kur  in  Georgia  belonged 
to  the  dominion  of  Tiglath-Pileser  II.  and  Sennacherib. 
'  Dazu  ist  der  lautliche  Wechsel  von  Kir  und  (al)  Kurru 
(q  und  Tc)  bedenklich.'  He  adds  that  the  parallel  Elam 
and  Media  in  Is.  xxi.  2,  compared  with  Elam  and  Kir 
in  Is.  xxii.  6,  most  naturally  suggests  a  Median,  or  even 
a  Babylonian,  territory;  he  knows,  however,  no  satisfac- 
tory identification.  Nor  does  he,  in  '  Die  Keilinschrif ten 
und  das  Alte  Testament,'  make  any  attempt  to  explain 
the  Biblical  Kir  (qlr)  by  comparing  similarly  sounding 
names  in  the  Assyrian  inscriptions.  What  prevents  him 
from  doing  it  is  probably  the  non-interchangeability 
of  q  and  h  in  Semitic  words.  This  is,  however,  far  from 
being  absolute.  '  Caph,'  says  Gesenius  ('  Thesaurus,'  s.  v.), 
'  permutatur  .  .  .  maxime  cum  p ;'  he  compares 
Heb.  Tcoba'  with  qoba',  dalchdkh  with  daqaq,  rdhhahh  with 
rclqaq,  haplial  with  Chald.  qappel,  Tcarsem  with  Chald. 
qarsem,  etc.,  and  refers  to  'alia  multa  in  Unguis  cognatis.' 
Schrader  himself  identifies  or  compares  Assyrian  Icappi 
with  qappi  ('  Die  Hollenfahrt  der  Istar,'  pp.  131,  139), 
kuradi  with  qardu,  qitri  with  hitirri  (Heb.  Jcether),  Tcasritu 
with  qasritu  (Heb.  qeslier),  and  Assyr.  Tcirib,  etc.,  with  Heb. 
qereb  ('Die  Keilinschriften  und  das  Alte  Testament/  pp. 


180  NOTES. 

350,  351,  366).  Sayce  ('Lectures  upon  the  Assyrian  Lan- 
guage,' pp.  19,  146)  shows  that  in  borrowing  Turanian 
words,  and  subjecting  them  to  such  modifications  as  were 
needed  to  make  them  '  conform  to  the  structure  and  gram- 
mar of  the  Semitic  tongues,'  the  Assyrians  changed  the 
'Accadian'  'wwF  (?nuq)  into  'rawccw'  (mukku);  and 
that  '  urik '  (uriq,  Heb.  ydrak)  appears  as  the  '  Accadian ' 
equivalent  of  the  Assyrian  'urcitu'  (urkitu).  Such  being 
the  relation  between  k  and  q  in  the  Assyrian  and  other 
Semitic  languages,  it  appears  very  probable  that  the  Biblical 
Kir  (qlr)  corresponds  to  the  Kir 'hi  or  the  Kirruri  of  the 
Assyrian  inscriptions — names,  perhaps,  altered  from  Tura- 
nian ones,  beginning  with  Qir — or  to  both,  if  those  neigh- 
boring countries  were  ethnically  connected.  In  regard  to 
their  location,  Schrader  says,  speaking  of  Assurnazirpal 
('  Keilinschriften  und  Geschichtsforschung,'  p.  146)  : 
'Von  Kirruri  aus  zieht  er  in  das  Land  Kirchi  .  .  . 
Aus  der  Monolithinschrift  desselben  Konigs  col.  Ill,  96  ff. 
ergiebt  sich  .  .  .  ,  dass  dasselbe  nach  dem  Euphrat 
zu  belegen  war,  dass  dasselbe  "  dem  Lande  Chatti "  d.  i. 
Syrien  gegenuber  lag,  und  dass  dasselbe  auch  nicht  allzu- 
weit  von  dem  bekannten  Amidi  (Diarbekr)  am  oberen 
Tigris  muss  zu  suchen  sein.  .  .  .  Da  .  .  .  die 
Grenze  von  Kirchi  im  Westen  durch  die  Euphratge- 
birge  .  .  .  hinlanglich  finirt  ist,  die  ostliche  Grenze 
uns  bis  nach  Kirruri  (urn  Urmiasee  .  .  .  )  weist, 
so  werden  wir  das  Gebiet  von  Kirchi  zuversichtlich 
im  Siiden  des  Arsanias,  in  dem  gebirgigen  Landstrich 
von  den  Quellen  des  Tigris  in  der  Eichtung  nach  dem 
Urmiasee  zu  bis  zum  oberen  Zab  hin  .     .     zu  suchen 

haben.'     Kir'hi,  'opposite  Syria,'  may  properly  be  deemed 


NOTES.  181 

the  Kir  from  which  the  Syrians  sprang,  while  the  connec- 
tion of  Kirruri,  on  the  border  of  Media,  with  Elam  appears 
equally  natural;  if  the  Hebrew  name  covers  both,  the  har- 
mony between  the  various  Biblical  references  to  Kir  is 
perfect.  For  Kir'hi  speaks  also  the  connection  of  qlr  with 
shoa'  in  Is.  xxii.  5,  in  the  former  of  which  words  already 
Ewald  recognized  the  Kir  of  the  following  verse,  and  in 
the  latter  a  people  mentioned  by  Ezekiel  (xxiii.  23)  in 
connection  with  the  Chaldees  and  Assyrians,  and  with 
p'qod  and  qoa'  fa  jnpl  jntm  TlpD  UHWD  bj\  ^22  "03 
CHIN  "WN  "'JS;  Sept.:  viov*  BafivXcavoS  uai  navrai 
rovS  XaXdaiovS,  $(xhovk  ua\  2ove  xai  Txove,  xai 
7tavTa<S  viovi  'Affffvplaov  just  '  avrcov).  Of  these,  p'qod 
is  proved  to  be  a  geographical  designation  by  the  words 
yosh'be  p'qod,  inhabitants  of  P'qod,  in  Jer.  1.  21.  This 
'  n.  p.  of  the  whole  land  of  Chaldea  or  a  part  of  it,'  is  here,  as 
Fiirst  properly  remarks  (s.  v.),  selected  to  form  an  assonance 
with  pdqad  and  p'qudddh,  designating  punishment,  in 
verses  18,  27,  31  of  the  same  chapter.'  Fiirst  also  remarks 
that  in  the  Talmud  a  Babylonian  city  N'har-P'qod  is 
mentioned,  which  contained  a  high -school  in  Talmudic 
times.  All  the  curious  philology,  however,  which  has 
been  expended  by  other  expounders  on  converting  shoa', 
p'qod,  and  qoa1  (as  well  as  the  qlr  of  Is.  xxii.  5)  into 
common  nouns  ought  to  vanish  in  the  light  of  the  Assyrian 
inscriptions,  which  show  us  that  among  the  conquests  oi 
the  Assyrian  kings  were  territories  called  Su'hi  (or  Shua), 
Puqud,  and  Qui  (or  Qaui).  The  location  of  the  first-named 
land  is  clear  from  the  great  inscription  of  Assurnazirpal, 
a  portion  of  which  George  Smith  ('  History  of  Babylonia,' 
edited  by  Sayce,  p.  101)  epitomizes  thus:  '"When  in  B.C. 


182  NOTES. 

879  Assur-nazir-pal  determined  to  attack  the  Suhi  or 
Shuites,  and  Sadadu,  prince  of  Shua,  sent  to  Babylon  for 
aid,  ...  a  Babylonian  force  marched  to  the  aid  of 
the  Shuites,  who  lived  along  the  river  Euphrates,  below  its 
junction  with  the  Khabur.'  Puqud  is  repeatedly  spoken 
of  in  the  inscriptions  of  Tiglath-Pileser  II.  in  connection 
with  Aramean  tribes  living  to  the  south-east  of  that  junc- 
tion, and  Qui  appears  again  and  again  side  by  side  with 
Gargamis  (Carchemish),  and  with  Syrian  localities  north- 
west of  the  mouth  of  the  Khabur,  as  far  as  the  Amanus. 
(See  Schrader,  I.  c,  pp.  108-113,  and  121,  122,  202,  236 
et  seq.) 

Concerning  Amos's  prediction  as  to  the  deportation  of 
the  Syrians  to  Kir,  Kuenen  remarks  ('The  Prophets  and 
Prophecy  in  Israel,'  translated  by  Milroy,  pp.  283-285 — a 
work  not  often  enough,  perhaps,  referred  to  in  this  volume) : 
'  The  writer  of  Kings  tells  us  that  Tiglath-Pileser  heark- 
ened to  the  request  of  Ahaz,  "  went  up  against  Damascus, 
subdued  it,  and  carried  it  (i.  e.,  carried  the  inhabitants)  to 
Kir,  and  put  Rezin  to  death."  Not  only  the  captivity  of 
the  Damascenes,  but  the  district  into  which  the  Assyrian 
transported  them,  is  thus  so  long  before  pointed  out  by 
the  prophet.  .  .  .  Nevertheless  we  see  again  in  this 
case  also  how  easily  we  may  allow  ourselves  to  be  deceived 
by  appearances.  For  it  is  plain  that  Amos  really  intended 
something  else  than  to  point  out  the  place  in  which  the 
Arameans  would  have  to  settle.  In  the  last  page  of  his 
book  we  find  a  sentence  which  is  evidently  connected  with 
his  prophecy  against  Damascus.  He  is  there  combating 
the  Israelites  who,  on  the  fact  of  Yahveh  having  redeemed 
them  from  Egypt,  built  the  hope  that  he  would  perma- 


NOTES.  183 

nently  help  them,  and  permit  them  to  continue  in  the  land 
which  he  had  bestowed  upon  them.  "  Are  ye  not  as  the 
sons  of  the  Cushites  unto  me?  Have  I  not  brought  up  the 
sons  of  Israel  out  of  Egypt,  and  (i.e.,  but  likewise)  the 
Philistines  out  of  Caphtor,  and  the  Arameans  out  of 
Kir?"  When,  therefore,  the  deportation  of  the  Arameans 
to  Kir  is  announced  in  the  prophecy  previously  discussed, 
the  meaning  of  this  phrase  is,  in  other  words :  their  rule 
in  the  country  which  they  at  present  possess  shall  come  to 
an  end;  they  shall  return  to  the  land  from  which  they  had 
originally  come.  In  the  mind  of  Amos,  therefore,  Kir  is 
something  different  from  the  accidental  destination  of  the 
Aramean  prisoners;  their  deportation  thither  is,  according 
to  him,  determined  by  their  previous  history.  .  .  . 
Further,  if  the  Arameans  actually  came  from  Kir,  in  that 
case  their  transportation  thither  could  no  longer  be  re- 
garded as  a  mere  arbitrary  procedure  on  the  part  of 
Tiglath-Pileser;  the  Assyrian  monarch  had  then  a  specific 
reason  for  transferring  them  to  Kir,  and  nowhere  else. 
.  .  .  But  enough  has  not  yet  been  said.  It  is,  to  say 
the  least,  uncertain  whether  the  inhabitants  of  Damascus 
were  actually  transported  to  Kir.  The  mention,  in  the 
narrative  which  I  have  just  now  quoted  from  the  second 
book  of  Kings,  of  the  place  to  which  the  Damascenes  were 
carried  away,  so  far  from  being  necessary,  is  in  some 
degree  perplexing.  Nobody  would  imagine  that  anything 
was  wanting  though  the  passage  ran  thus:  "And  he 
(Tiglath-Pileser)  went  up  against  Damascus,  and  took  and 
depopulated  it,  and  put  Rezin  to  death."  The  question 
thus  arises  whether  the  single  word  Kirah  (to  Kir)  was 
originally   a   marginal   note,  taken  from  Amos   i.  5,  and 


184  NOTES. 

afterward  inserted  in  the  text.  I  would  not,  however, 
have  proposed  this  question,  obvious  as  it  really  is,  if  the 
word  referred  to  had  not  been  wanting  in  the  Greek  ver- 
sion of  the  Old  Testament,  at  least  in  the  oldest  and  best 
manuscripts.  Can  this  omission  be  regarded  as  accidental  ? 
Is  it  not  rather  highly  probable  that  this  version  has  pre- 
served to  us  the  most  ancient  reading  ? '  '  The  conjecture 
of  Rowland  Williams,'  Kuenen  adds,  'that  "to  Kir,"  in 
Amos  i.  5,  is  an  addition  made  by  a  later  editor  of  the 
prophecies  of  Amos,  in  conformity  with  the  result,  lacks 
the  support  which  my  supposition  derives  from  the  Greek 
text  of  2  Kings  xvi.  9,  and  does  not  do  justice  to  Amos 
ix.  7.' 

F. 

(See  p.  74.) 

The    original   sentence,   niCa    nxD3    )Y1BIP2    CDt^n 

tmy  pwD"ci  (=  cowm  hed  pkeo  powa  Mwn 

BHJJ  HND3  DttfE"D),   has   its   parallels   in   the   following  : 

[px  rrab  =]  ]i*6  rrrr  bx  rrai  Am.  v.  5  (<?/.  Hos.  iv.  15, 

v.  8,  x.  5);  [Tpnri  )vrb^  =]  ^nni  ^dk  ^nttM  ^v  ]wb 
"]i?  ctonx  ( is.  xiviii.  9 ) ;  nr^Di  n:^a  oswa  nnn 
npbn  in*1  [na^D  nnm=]  is.  ixi.  7);  c^:  ikeo  niw  •d 

D^D  la-ttn  CEO  [IWM  "itt>K]  CHQ  BP1)  tTPTD3  (Ezra  x.  44); 

rrrr  A  jro^  lzmp"1  new  ^"i^  "a  ^ip  ^  norm  tei 

FTP  "6  VDlp  HK  [Tip1  IttK]  Efyfl  (Num.  v.  9,  10); 
"00  "TOW  D^rb  niN  holl^]  (Prov.  x.  17);  []?DW]  CDH  p 
n~!J73  JJDtP  fr^  V^  3X  nDlQ  (Prov.  xiii.  1).  In  Gen.  iv.  22 
?rD1  HUTO  tenn  •D  ItftD^  is  not  elliptical,  but  a  phrase 
corrupted  by  the  accidental  omission  of  the  word  ^N, 
which  we  find  in  the  corresponding  two  sentences  (verses 
20,  21). 


NOTES.  185 

c. 

(See  p.  82.) 

Amos's  rVOD  (v.  26),  a  aitaB,  Xsyojusvov,  can  most 
plainly  be  derived  from  "pD.  Of  the  root  of  this  stem, 
•JD,  Muhlau  and  Volck's  Gesenius  says,  '  Diese  Wz.  gehort 
zu  einer  grossen  Familie  verwandter  Wzz. ,  .  .  .  welche 
sammtlich  die  G.B.  des  Stechens,  Schneidens,  Spaltens 
u.  s.  w.  haben.'  Among  the  derivations  from  this  large 
group  of  roots  are  Arab  shagg,  to  split;  Heb.  rjpfef,  Chald. 
T3D,  Arab,  sikhln,  knife;  Heb.  Tit',  Chald.  hoc,  Arab. 
shok,  thorn,  spine ;  Heb.  J"DtLS  pointed  weapon,  dart. 
CDD/D  niDD  would  thus  be,  the  carved  image  of  your 
king,  or  of  your  Moloch.  The  kindred  rPDitfQ  is  generally 
rendered  image,  thus:  'Ez.  8,  12:  rv^t'D  "Hin  Gemacher, 
deren  Wande  mit  Figuren  bemalt  sind,  oder  in  welchen 
Bilder  aufgestellt  sind,  die  zum  Gegenstande  abgottischer 
Verehrung  dienen;'  'rP3t>E  pX  3  M.  26,  1,  und  nVgipn 
4  M.  33,  52  Steine  mit  abgottischen  Figuren;'  '  Spr.  25, 
11:  *")D3  Hi^^a?  DJTT  T^SH  goldene  Aepfel  mit  silbernen 
Figuren'  (Gesenius).  It  also  occurs  in  the  sense  of 
imagination  (Ps.  lxxiii.  7,  Prov.  xviii.  11),  and  !T2t>  and 
"*pto  (however  explained)  have  a  clearly  cognate  meaning. 
These  meanings  are,  it  seems,  unnecessarily  derived  from 
POttf  in  its  secondary  sense  of  seeing,  gazing  at,  by  Furst 
and  by  Muhlau  and  Volck,  who  consider  the  primary 
signification  of  that  verb  to  be  cutting.  To  derive  seeing, 
in  these  formations,  from  imaging,  imagining,  and  image 
and  imaging  from  cutting,  carving,  appears  to  be  a  more 
rational  proceeding.  Cf.  Ger.  bilden,  Gebilde,  Bild,  Ein- 
bildung,   Einbildungskraft ;    "1J£   ('  Bildung,'     'Gebilde/ 


186  NOTES. 

cBildwerk,'  'Gotzenstatue,'  'trop.  das  Sinnen,  Dichten ' — 
Gesenius — from  -^  ('bilden,  fingere');  and  also  x*-q 
('  schneiden,  zuschneiden  .  .  .  ,  dann  bilden,  zurecht- 
machen,  nnd  daher  schaffen,  hervorbringen ' — Miihlau  and 
Volck).  And  as  H13Q  so  tne  parallel  WJ  (the  Chiun  of  the 
Authorized  Version)  can  be  understood  to  signify  image  or 
figure — a  collective  figure,  or  collection  of  figures,  if  the 
pl.  CD^S  he  correct.  The  Qvjjg  of  Jer.  vii.  18,  xliv.  19, 
like  ]TD  from  p3  (fig),  Chald.  VQ,  to  prepare,  to  fashion, 
is  perfectly  analogous.  These  kavvdnim,  made  in  honor  of 
the  queen  of  heaven,  were,  it  is  true,  formed  out  of  dough 
(Jer.  vii.  18),  but  they  were  probably  shaped  to  represent 
her  image  (RySprfc  Jer.  xliv.  19;  cf.  C^y)-  Kohler 
('Der  Segen  Jacob's,'  p.  14)  conjectures  that  the  words 
DD^D^SJ  and  "2yo,  in  the  text  of  Amos  before  us,  were 
originally  glosses  explanatory  of  DTTI^vX  and  ]V2),  respec- 
tively, and  for  evidence  he  appeals  to  the  readings  of  the 
Septuagint  and  the  Syriac  version,  which  differ  from  the 
Hebrew  text.  He  therefore  translates,  '  Ihr  habt  das  Bild 
Eures  Konigs  mid  die  Gestalt  Eures  Gottes,  die  ihr  Euch 
verfertigt  habt,  getragen.'  We  can  presume  the  explana- 
tion of  ITD  by  3D1D  to  have  been  owing  to  the  reading  of 
]TD  as  lyg,  corresponding  to  Kewtin,  one  of  the  Arabic 
names  for  Saturn  {Kaivan  also  in  Assyrian,  according  to 
Oppert  and  Schrader).  This  name  of  Saturn,  the  wor- 
shipped star,  is  substituted  in  the  Syriac  version  for  our 
]T"5,  and  the  Septuagint's  equivalent,  'Paicpav,  is  believed 
to  be  a  corruption  of  Kaicpav,  for  rpg.  In  both  these  ver- 
sions '  your  king '  ('your  melehW^  has  also  easily  been  turned 
into  'your  Moloch.'  The  correctness  of  their  explanations 
is  assumed  in  the  Authorized  Version.     p-Q  is  also  identi- 


NOTES.  187 

fied  with  the  Arabic  ('and  Persian')  Kewdn,  or  Saturn, 
by  Aben  Ezra,  and  Rashi  goes  a  step  further,  declaring 
both  niDD  and  vp^  to  be  the  names  of  idols.  Kimhi  com- 
pares jVD  both  with  D"^3  and  Kewdn,  without  deciding. 
Gesenius,  after  following  Aben  Ezra  in  his  '  Commentary 
on  Isaiah'  (vol.  ii.  p.  344)  and  in  his  'Lexicon'  ('Name 
einer  Gottheit,  .  .  .  der  Stern  Saturn '),  reversed  his 
decision  in  his  '  Thesaurus '  (pp.  669,  670),  expressing  a 
decided  preference  for  rendering  CD^Q^'i  ]VO  by  statuam 
(or  statuas)  idolorum  vestrorum  (]l"0  from  the  pi' el  of  I'D 
in  the  sense  of  erecting,  and  not  of  fashioning,  which 
seems  to  be  implied  in  the  '  imaginem  idolorum  vestro- 
rum '  of  the  Vulgate).  ni3D  he  renders,  like  ri3D>  by  taber- 
naculum.  Ewald,  Hitzig,  and  Keil  also  consider  both 
ITOQ  and  ]VQ  as  appellatives,  variously  explaining  them. 
Kuenen,  'after  long  hesitation,'  'because  the  reading  and 
position  of  the  following  words  are  so  exceedingly  uncer- 
tain,' thinks  he  must  give  the  preference  to  the  identifica- 
tion of  ]VD  with  Kewdn,  '  chiefly  because  it  is  recommended 
by  exegetic  tradition '  ('  The  Religion  of  Israel,'  translated 
by  May,  vol.  i.  p.  266).  Fiirst  is  more  positive  in  explain- 
ing the  word  in  the  same  sense,  and  Schrader  (in  his  article 
'  Chiun '  in  Riehm's  Bible  Dictionary,  and  elsewhere)  not 
only  unhesitatingly  identifies  vpj  with  the  Kaivdn  of  the 
Assyrians,  but  also  rVOD  with  their  Sakhut.  It  is,  how- 
ever, unfortunate  for  this  combination  that  Sakkut,  like 
Kaivdn,  is  an  appellation  for  Saturn,  while  Amos  says, 
'YeborerVDD     .     •     .     and  ]VJ.     .     .     .' 


188  NOTES. 

H. 

(See  pp.  101,  102.) 

The  arguments  in  favor  of  the  identification  of  Caphtor 
with  Crete,  which  was  advocated,  among  others,  by  Hitzig, 
Bertheau,  Ewald,  and  Knobel,  are  strongly  put  forth  by 
Fiirst,  and  thus  all  but  literally  reproduced  in  the  follow- 
ing :  '  Kaphtor,  the  name  of  the  island  of  Crete,  which  is 
termed  I-Khaftor  [island  or  coastland  of  Kaphtor]  in  Jer. 
xlvii.  4,  the  native  land  of  a  race  of  Philistines,  the  Kaph- 
torim.    As  a  race  named  P'lishtim  came  out  of  Kasloa'h 
[Gen.  x.  14],  so  a  race  of  Kaphtorim   immigrated  from 
Crete,  or  Kaphtor,  into  the  coast-territory  of  Palestine  on 
the  Mediterranean  Sea,  reaching  from  Joppa  to  the  bound- 
ary of  Egypt  (Am.  ix.  7).     Accordingly  Scripture  recog- 
nizes the  immigration  of  two  races  of  the  Philistines,  from 
two  directions.      The  Kaphtorim  destroyed  the  primitive 
inhabitants,  the   'Avvim,  who  dwelt  in  villages  as  far  as 
Gaza  (Deut.  ii.  23  ;  I.  Chr.  i.  12).     As  the  name  K'rethi, 
pi.  K'rethim,  meaning  Cretan,  Cretans,  also  appears  for 
the  Philistines  in  I.  Sam.  xxx.  14,  as  well  as  in  Zeph.  ii.  5 
and  Ezek.  xxv.  16  (where  P'lishtim  stands  in  the  parallel 
member  of  the  sentence),  if  Kaphtor  be  not  identified  with 
Crete  (K'reth),  we  must  still  assume  a  third  immigration. 
On  the  other  hand  it  must  appear  strange  that  the  He- 
brews should  have  had  two  names  (Kaphtor,  K'reth)  for 
Crete.     But  since  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  Cretans 
(K'rethim)  formed  a  principal  race  of  the  Philistine  popu- 
lation in  the  south  of  Philistia  (see  Ezek.,  I.  c,  and  Zeph., 
I.  c,  in  the  Septuagint),  and  that  David's  body-guard  con- 
sisted of  them  under  the  name  of  hak-K'rethi  (the  Cre- 
tans), along  with  Philistines  (hap-P'lethi,  made  from  hap- 


NOTES.  189 

P'lishti  for  the  sake  of  assonance  to  hak-K'rethi,  II.  Sam. 
viii.  18) ;  as  the  southernmost  part  of  Philistia  was  called 
because  of  this  very  race  the  southland  of  the  K'rethi  (I. 
Sam.  xxx.  14,  where  it  is  plain  from  xxx.  16  that  Philis- 
tines are  meant)  ;  as,  according  to  an  account  in  Tacitus 
('Hist.'  v.  2),  the  inhabitants  of  Palestine  (meaning  Phi- 
listia, as  he  also  identifies  the  Jews  and  Philistines)  immi- 
grated into  it  from  Crete ;  and  as  the  Philistine  city  of 
Gaza,  according  to  Stephanus  Byzantinus  (s.  v.)  was  early 
called  Minoa,  after  Minos — the  opinion  already  put  forth 
by  Lakemacher,  Calmet,  and  Kosenmuller  that  the  island 
Kaphtor,  the  home  of  the  Philistines,  can  only  be  Crete, 
ought  to  be  retained.  The  Hyksos-race  of  the  Kaphtorim 
which  emigrated  from  Egypt  at  a  very  early  period  and 
went  to  Crete  (Gen.,  I.  c),  gave  the  name  Island  of  Kaph- 
tor to  Crete,  among  the  Hebrews  ;  Carian,  Phoenician, 
semi-Semitic  barbarian  peoples  mentioned  by  classical 
writers,  the  Eteocretes  and  Cydonians,  who  are  said  to 
have  inhabited  the  island  before  the  Hellenes,  may  have 
been  the  Egyptian  immigrant  Kaphtorim.'  It  is,  how- 
ever, not  unavoidably  necessary  to  assume,  with  Fiirst,  two 
immigrations  of  Philistines  :  one  from  the  land  of  the 
Casluhim,  according  to  Gen.  x.  14,  and  another  from  the 
island  of  Caphtor,  according  to  Am.  ix.  7,  Deut.  ii.  23, 
and  Jer.  xlvii.  4 ;  for  the  immigration  of  the  Cretan  Phi- 
listines, or  Caphtorim,  may  have  been  indirect,  through  the 
land  of  the  Casluhim,  which  is  now  generally  identified 
with  the  Casiotis  of  Ptolemy,  an  arid  district,  named  from 
Mount  Casius,  between  the  Pelusiac  mouth  of  the  Nile  and 
the  south-west  extremity  of  Philistia.  This  hypothesis 
may  find  some  support  in  a  tradition  of  the  ancients  thus 


190  NOTES. 

stated  by  Tacitus  (I.  c.)  :  '  Judaeos,  Creta  insula  profugos, 
novissima  Libyae  insedisse  memorant.'  There  are  also 
■writers  who  believe  that  in  the  text  of  Gen.  x.  14  the  words 
'  and  the  Casluhim,  out  of  whom  came  the  Philistines,  and 
the  Caphtorim,'  though  literally  so  given  also  in  I.  Chr.  i. 
12,  ought  to  be  transposed  into  and  the  Casluhim,  and  the 
Caphtorim,  out  of  whom  came  the  Philistines,  in  conformity 
with  the  other  texts  referring  to  the  origin  of  the  last- 
named  people. — With  the  now  generally  abandoned  identi- 
fication of  the  Casluhim  with  the  Colchians,  whom  Herod- 
otus and  other  ancient  writers  considered  a  colony  of  the 
Egyptians,  the  only  support  (outside  of  resemblance  in 
sound)  of  the  rendering  Cappadocia,  which  is  that  of  all 
the  ancient  versions  for  Kaphtor,  is  also  lost.  This  simi- 
larity of  names,  which  probably  originated  the  rendering, 
is  insufficient  to  counterbalance  the  objection  to  the  latter 
arising  from  the  term  I,  island  or  coast,  attached  to  Caph- 
tor  in  Jeremiah  (I.  c. )  ;  for  Cappadocia,  even  if  we  extend 
its  northern  borders  to  the  Euxine,  could  surely  not  appear 
to  the  Hebrews  as  a  maritime  country.  The  identification 
of  Caphtor  with  Cyprus — also  on  account  of  the  resem- 
blance of  the  names — is  just  as  easily  disproved  by  Chittim 
being  the  common  Biblical  designation  of  that  island. 
Carpathus  again,  adjoining  Crete,  is  too  insignificant  an 
island  to  be  deemed  the  Caphtor  of  the  Hebrews,  the 
original  home  of  the  Philistines. 

Of  Ebers's  extensive  argument  for  identifying  Caphtor 
with  the  Delta  of  Egypt  ('Aegypten  und  die  Biicher 
Mose's,'  pp.  127-237),  the  following  are  some  of  the  main 
points :  The  tablet  of  Canopus  shows  that  Kaft  was  the 
Egyptian  name  for  Phoenicia.     The  northern,  or  maritime, 


NOTES.  191 

part  of  the  Delta  was  from  times  immemorial  inhabited  by 
Phoenicians.     That  maritime  district  may  be  supposed  to 
have   been   called  Ai-kaft,   the  coastland  Kaft,  or  more 
probably  Kaft-ur,  Great-Kaft,  for  ur  in  Egyptian  means 
great.     The  name  Kaft  was  derived  from  the  Phoenicians 
themselves,  who  designated  the  shore  of  the  Delta  as  the 
bent  coastland,  ai-hdbt  or  similarly — from  itf,  Eg.  aa,  isl- 
and or  coast,  and  HDD  or  2pj?  an(i  kindred  Egyptian  words, 
kab,  gab,  leaf,  akab,   all   signifying  to  bend,    to   be  round. 
In  the  ethnic  appellation  the  word  ai  was  naturally  dropped, 
and  the  Phoenician  colonists  were  thus  called  by  the  Egyp- 
tians Kaf  tu.     These  Phoenicians  were  the  first  to  make  the 
Greeks  acquainted  with  Egypt,  and  first  of  all  with  its. 
northern  insular  part,  the  native  name  of  which,  Ai-Kaft, 
was  changed  by  the  strangers  into  AiyvnroS,  which  be- 
came the  designation  both  of  the  whole  land  and  its  river. 
The  Egyptians,  on  their  part,  applied  the  name  Kaft  to  all 
the  divisions  of  the  nation  with  which  they  had  first  be- 
come familiar  in  its  colonies  between  the  mouths  of  the 
Nile,   and,   in  contradistinction  to  the  islands  and  the 
Syrian  coast  occupied  by  the  Phoenicians,  they  called  their 
Nile  territory  Kaft-ur  (Magna  Phoenicia).     This  maritime, 
almost  insular,  Kaftur,  is  the  I-Caphtor  of  Jeremiah  (I.  c), 
the  land  of  the  Caphtorim — neighbors  of  the  Casluliim — 
who  migrated  into   Philistia,   and  wrested    it    from  the 
Awim. — What  mainly  strengthens  the  argument  is  that, 
according  to  Gen.  x.  13,  14,  the  Caphtorim,  like  the  Caslu- 
him,  were  descendants  of  Mizraim  (Egypt),  and  that  all  the 
other  descendants  of  the  same  Hamite  progenitor  enumer- 
ated with  them  are  easily  identified   as   inhabitants   or 
neighbors  of  Egypt.     (See,  among  others,  Dillmann  in 


192  NOTES. 

loco,  and  Ebers,  I.  c,  pp.  91-127.)  The  Caphtorim,  before 
their  emigration,  thus  appear  in  their  right  sphere,  and 
need  not  have  detached  themselves  from  their  Egyptian 
kindred  to  migrate  first  to  Crete,  and  thence,  as  Chereth- 
ites  (K'rethim,  Cretans),  to  the  shores  which  they  ruled 
under  the  name  of  Philistines.  On  the  other  hand,  this 
very  identity  of  Philistines  and  Cherethites — so  distinctly 
attested  by  Ezekiel  and  Zephaniah,  and  elsewhere  (see 
above) — remains  to  be  explained  ;  and  it  is  this  difficulty, 
chiefly,  which  makes  Dillmann,  G.  Baur  (art.  '  Caphthor ' 
in  Kiehm's  Bible  Dictionary),  and  lastly  Kiepert  (in  his 
'  Lehrbuch  der  alten  Geographie,'  pp.  171,  172,  248)  cling 
to  the  old  view,  while  Miihlau  and  Volck's  Gesenius  favors 
that  of  Ebers.  Thus  Kiepert  sees  in  the  Cherethites  im- 
migrants from  Caphtor,  which  is  almost  indubitably  Crete, 
and  in  the  Pelethites  Pelasgians  (or  P'lishtim,  from 
pdlash  to  wander,  'Peldschi  "  Auswanderer,"  griechisch 
umgesetzt  in  7ts\a6yoi'}  assimilated  with  the  former,  the 
forced  emigration  of  the  Pelasgians  from  the  Hellenic 
countries,  chronologically  coinciding  with  the  appearance 
of  the  Philistines  as  conquerors  on  the  southern  shores  of 
Syria. 

The  proximity  of  Crete  to  the  coast  of  Libya — the  land 
of  the  Ludim  or  of  the  Lehabim,  or  of  both  peoples,  both 
descendants  of  Mizraim — easily  furnishes  the  explanation, 
needed  for  this  view,  of  the  connection  established  between 
the  Caphtorim  and  the  Egyptian  branch  of  the  Hamites  in 
the  ethnological  table  of  Genesis  (x.).  And  that  the  Phi- 
listines, in  spite  of  the  Semitism  which  clearly  characterizes 
almost  all  their  historical,  mythological,  and  geographical 
names,  are  m  that  table  classified  among  the  Hamites — a 


NOTES.  193 

fact,  however,  not  more  surprising  than  that  Canaan,  the 
ancestor  of  the  Zidonian  and  other  Phoenicians,  whose 
whole  language  was  purely  Semitic,  appears  there  as  the 
son  of  Ham,  and  brother  of  Mizraim — is  a  difficulty  which 
the  defenders  of  both  views  must  meet.  If  the  Caphtorim — 
that  is,  the  people  afterward  so  called  as  natives  of  Caphtor 
— detaching  themselves  from  their  Libyan  and  Egyptian 
brethren,  emigrated  from  Africa  into  Crete,  they  were 
there  to  a  degree  Semitized  before  they  left  that  island  as 
Cherethites,  or  with  Cherethites  (Cretans  proper),  to  estab- 
lish themselves  on  Syrian  lands  conquered  from  the  Avvim, 
side  by  side  with  Pelasgic  Pelethites  (perhaps  P'lishtlm 
proper).  Crete,  in  hoary  antiquity,  was  full  of  Semitic 
populations,  and  dotted  with  Phoenician  settlements.  The 
Phoenicians  long  ruled  this  and  all  the  neighboring  islands. 
'  Diese  Periode  semitischer  Herrschaft  fiber  das  ganze 
Inselmeer,'  says  Kiepert  (1.  c,  pp.  247,  248),  'mit  Karern 
und  Lelegern  als  Untertanen  und  dem  Sitze  in  Kreta  ist 
in  dem  mythischen  Seeherrscher  und  Gesetzgeber  Minos 
(vgl.  Minoa  als  haufigen  phonikischen  Ortsnamen)  zusam- 
mengefasst,  den  schon  friih  die  Griechen,  speciell  die 
dorischen  Eroberer  von  Kreta,  in  ihre  nationale  Tradition 
herubergenommen  haben.  .  .  .  Semitische  Ortsnamen 
sind  z.  B.  Kaeratos,  der  angeblich  iiltere  Name  der  Stadt 
Knosos  =  nip  "  Stadt"  .  .  .  ,  Hellotis,  der  friihere 
Name  von  Gortyn  =  rfi^tt  "  Palmen-  oder  Terebinthen- 
Hain,"  deren  Hafenstadt  Leben  =  T\y£>  "  weiss,"  Itanos 
an  der  Ostkuste  =  ]rptf  "bestiindig,  dauernd  "  (von  Wasser- 
laufen  gebraucht — wenn  nicht  vom  Cultus  des  Ba'al-Itan), 
das  auf  holier  Felsterrasse  im  W.  der  Insel  gelegene 
Arden  =  Titf  "Zuflucht." '     Europa,  too,  the  name  of  the 


194  NOTES. 

Phoenician  princess  whom  Zeus  carried  off  to  Crete,  as 
well  as  of  the  north-western  division  of  the  ancient  world, 
is  generally  derived  from  2"iy_,  evening,  west,  and  the  name 
of  Jardanus,  a  river  of  north-western  Crete,  compared  with 
that  of  the  Syrian  Jordan.  To  which  may  be  added  that 
Gortyn,  Gortys,  or  Gortyna — Homer's  r6prvv  reixiosffffa, 
walled-in  Gortyn  (II.  ii.  646) — probably  owed  this  name  to 
its  fortifications,  which  made  it  an  urbs  munita,  mp  (see 
'  Thesaurus,'  pp.  1236, 1237),  or  a  double  city,  like  Kartan, 
in  Naphtali,  near  the  Phoenician  border,  or  Cartenna  in 
Mauritania  (Gesenius,  'Phoenicise  Monumenta,'  p.  421); 
that  Strabo's  (x.  475)  'little  town  of  Prasus,'  ndkixviov 
Ilpaffo?,  east  of  Gortyn,  was  so  called  because  it  was 
unwalled — cf.  Heb.  ]inO»  mtlD;  that  Gnosus,  or  Cnosus, 
the  great  seat  of  the  legends  of  Zeus,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  which  were  the  cavern  where  he  was  hid  as  a  child,  his 
tomb,  and  the  much  fabled-about  Cretan  labyrinth,  was 
originally  called  Ti31  Hip  (Caeratus-Gnosus),  City  of  the 
Hidden  One — that  is,  of  the  Libyan  and  Egyptian  Zeus, 
Ammon  or  Amen-Ra,  whose  name  signified  the  hidden 
(Ebers,  Poole,  etc.),  and  who,  as  Diodorus  (iii.  71)  tells  us, 
fled  from  Libya  to  Crete,  and  reigned  there;  and  that  the 
Semitic  Cretans,  or  a  portion  of  them,  may  have  called 
themselves  HTTP  as  a  people  cut  off  from  the  mainland, 
and  their  country  nrrp,  Creta,  in  the  sense  of  island,  just 
as  the  Arabs  call  an  island  (and  Mesopotamia)  gezlreh — 
that  is,  terra  abscissa  (=  mn  pN  or  nrrp  pK  m 
Hebrew). 

The  various  myths  attaching  themselves  to  the  Cretan 
Zeus  and  his  son  Minos  are  thus  reflected  upon  by  Duncker 
('History  of  Antiquity,'  translated  by  E.  Abbott,  vol.  ii. 


NOTES.  195 

p.  65  et  seq.)%.  'A  bull-god  [the  Seoravpos  of  Moschus] 
carries  the  daughter  of  Phoenix  [Europa]  over  the  sea  to 
Crete  and  begets  Minos;  a  bull  who  rises  out  of  the  sea 
begets  with  Pasiphae,  i.e.  the  all-shining,  the  Minos-bull 
[Minotaur],  to  which  in  case  of  blight  and  famine  boys 
and  girls  are  sacrificed  in  the  number  sacred  among  the 
Semites;  Androgeos  [Minos's  son]  succumbs  to  the  heat 
of  the  bull  of  Marathon,  an  iron  man  slays  his  victims  by 
pressing  them  to  his  glowing  breast.  These  legends  of  the 
Greeks  are  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  origin  of  the  rites 
observed  in  Crete  from  the  coast  of  Syria,  of  the  settlement 
of  Phoenicians  in  Crete.  The  bull-god  may  be  the  Baal 
Samim  or  the  Baal  Moloch  of  the  Phoenicians;  Europa  has 
already  revealed  herself  to  us  as  the  moon-goddess  of  the 
Phoenicians;  Pasiphae  is  only  another  name  for  the  same 
goddess,  the  lady  of  the  nightly  sky,  the  starry  heaven. 
"We  know  that  on  occasions  of  blight  human  sacrifices  were 
offered  to  Baal  Moloch,  the  fiery,  consuming,  angry  sun- 
god,  and  that  these  sacrifices  were  burnt.  .  .  .  Minos, 
the  son  of  the  sky-god,  the  husband  of  the  moon-goddess, 
who  from  time  to  time  receives  revelations  from  heaven, 
and  even  after  his  death  is  judge  of  the  dead,  is  himself  a 
god;  his  proper  name  is  Minotaur,  a  name  taken  from  the 
form  of  the  bull's  image  and  the  bull's  head.  .  .  . 
Coins  of  the  Cretan  cities  Gortys  and  Phsestus  exhibit  a 
bull  or  a  bull -headed  man  as  a  stamp.'  This  nearly 
coincides  with  the  older  view  of  Hock,  who  in  his  '  Kreta,' 
the  most  extensive  work  on  the  subject,  construed  the 
genealogy  of  Minos  to  denote  a  combination  of  the  orgiastic 
Zeus-worship  which  prevailed  among  the  Eteocretes,  the 
autochthons  of  Crete,  with  the  moon-worship  imported  from 


196  NOTES. 

Phoenicia.  But  whether  the  Zeus  of  the  Cretans  was  an 
indigenous  god,  or  the  horned  Amnion  of  the  Libyan  oasis, 
or  the  Amen-Ra  of  Egyptian  Thebes — to  whom  the  bull 
Apis  was  sacred — or  the  Moloch  of  the  Phoenicians,  is  of 
no  importance  to  us  here:  very  likely  most  of  these  gods 
existed  first  side  by  side  in  different  parts  of  the  island, 
and  were  finally  blended  into  one.  The  main  fact  remains 
that  Creta  was  the  cradle,  the  nurse,  and  the  tomb  of  Zeus 
the  bull-god  (Seoravpos),  who  brought  Europa  from 
Phoenicia,  and  that  the  coast  south  of  Gortyn  was  the  spot 
hallowed  by  the  legends  which  celebrated  that  event — 
legends  which  may  or  may  not  have  had  a  precise  historical 
basis.  That  shore,  on  which  stood  the  port-town  of 
Gortyn,  Leben,  more  anciently  Lebena  (Heb.  Tftlb,  white, 
and  also  moon),  ought  thus  to  have  been  known  to  the 
Phoenicians  as  the  shore  of  the  bull — that  is,  in  their 
Semitic  language,  as  keph  tor,  for  keph  (see  rn  in  Ge- 
senius's  'Thesaurus,'  in  Miihlau  and  Volck's  Gesenius,  and 
especially  in  Levy's  '  Neuhebraisches  und  Chaldaisches 
Worterbuch  ')  signifies  shore  in  various  Semitic  languages, 
and  not  only  is  tor  the  Chaldee  word  corresponding  to 
ravpoS,  taurus,  bull,  and  to  the  Hebrew  shor,  ox,  but  we 
have  in  Plutarch  ('Sulla,'  xvii.)  a  clear  testimony  for  the 
identity  of  the  corresponding  word  in  Phoenician  (Ocop 
yap  oi  ^oiviks?  r?)v  fiovr  naXovffi).  This  being  so, 
nothing  seems  more  plausible  than  the  conjecture — which 
the  writer  owes  to  a  deceased  friend,  Meshullam  Ehrlich, 
a  native  of  Lublin,  in  Poland — that  this  keph  tor  was  the 
origin  of  the  name  Caphtor;  the  whole  island,  sacred  to 
Zeus,  being  eventually  so  named  by  the  Phoenicians  from 
the  shore  of  the  SeoravpoS  and  the  Phoenician  Europa. 


MOTES.  197 

I. 

(See  p.  103.) 

The  book  of  Ecclesiastcs  ends  with  an  epilogue  by  a  col- 
lector—  or  by  a  body  of  collectors  —  intended  partly  to 
counteract  the  thorough  skepticism  and  partial  Epicurean- 
ism of  the  work,  and  partly  to  excuse  its  reception  in  the 
Canon,  which,  in  fact,  took  place  very  late,  and  after 
strenuous  opposition.  In  addition,  as  the  last  word  of  this 
epilogue  happens  to  be  '  evil,'  the  Masoretic  copies,  for 
readings  in  the  synagogue,  repeat  the  preceding  verse. 
Similar  repetitions,  for  similar  reasons,  are  Masoretically 
marked  in  at  the  end  of  Isaiah,  of  the  Minor  Prophets, 
and  of  Lamentations.  Each  of  the  first  four  books  of  the 
Psalter  ends  with  a  brief  doxology,  inserted  in  the  text 
(Ps.  xli.,  Ixxii.,  lxxxix.,  cvi.),  while  the  last  psalm  of  the 
Psalter  is  wholly  a  doxology.  The  last  verse  of  Micah, 
too,  is  apparently  an  addition  to  the  book,  made  to  prevent 
its  ending  with  the  word  'sins.'  Of  the  last  two  verses  of 
Joel  only  the  words  TTp3  *h  CD1  TPpll,  which  play  upon 
the  preceding  fr^pi  CI,  have  a  look  of  genuineness,  while 
the  rest  seems  to  be  an  addition,  repeating  part  of  verse  17, 
and  thus  softening  the  prophet's  conclusion.  It  may  also 
be  doubted  whether  the  epilogue  of  Hosea  (see  above, 
p.  163),  so  much  resembling  in  tenor  that  of  Ecclesiastes, 
is  the  prophet's  own. 

J. 

(See  p  118.) 

Aleeady  Aben  Ezra  (on  Hos.  i.  1)  remarked  that  ben, 
son  of,  or  bath,  daughter  of,  never  designates  a  single 
native  or  inhabitant  of  a  city.     Nor  does  it  designate  a 


198  NOTES. 

single  member  of  a  tribe  or  a  people.  We  read  of  the  sons 
of  Israel,  of  Amnion,  of  Edom,  of  Asshur,  of  Kedar,  etc., 
and  also  of  the  daughter  of  Tyre,  of  Jerusalem,  of  Zion,  of 
Egypt,  of  Tarshish,  etc.;  but  in  all  such  instances  the 
people  descended  from  one  national  or  tribal  progenitor  or 
the  inhabitants  of  a  city  or  country  are  meant,  collectively 
— the  daughter  of  Tyre  (-&  ro)  is  the  maiden  Tyre  her- 
self, poetically  so  considered.  The  young  women  of  a  city 
may  also  be  spoken  of  collectively  as  its  daughters,  as  are, 
for  instance,  in  Canticles,  the  maidens  of  Zion  and  Jeru- 
salem (]T3  ni23>  C^tt^T  FTO3);  but  no  single  Zionitess 
would  be  called  in  Biblical  Hebrew  a  daughter  of  Zion. 
A  single  member  of  the  Israelitish  nation  is  called  an 
Israelitish  man  (^JOW  tl^N),  a  man  of  the  sons  of  Israel 
(^i^'-lti?'*  "02E  WN),  or  a  man  of  the  house  of  Israel  (WK 
biT}UP  rVDD),  but  never  a  son  of  Israel  (^iOttn~p). 
^N"1W  WN  is  used  only  in  one  solitary  verse  of  the  Bible 
(Num.  xxv.  8)  to  designate  a  single  Israelite,  everywhere 
else  it  signifies  the  Israelites,  just  as  CHDX  WW  signifies 
the  Ephraimites,  and  miiT  ttPtf  t7ie  men  of  Judah  ;  w»K 
thus  corresponding,  in  prose,  to  the  p,n  of  poetry.  A 
man  of  Gibeon  was  a  "OJJUJ ;  of  Ashdod,  an  THttW ;  of 
Jezreel,  a  "^Kjnr  ;  of  Teman,  a  ^aTl ',  of  Gaza,  an  ">nty — 
just  as  a  descendant  of  Eber  was  an  "HDJft  of  Dan,  a  *>y\ ; 
or  of  Zerah,  a  Tilt.  Derivatives  from  geographical  names 
ending  in  n>  \  or  C"S  were  often  formed  with  considerable 
license.     Thus  we  have  from  nyTJ  both  "»nj?~l!J  and  ">jn^ ; 

from  n:sn,  ^:nn ;  from  rib^w,  ^frw ;  from  rfo,  \&m  ; 

from  ■»!§,  nn ;  and  from  C^lh,  Tift— just  as  i^#,  ijio, 
and  "y"D  were  patronymics  of  Tp\ff,  ni9»  and  nyiD 
(Num.  xxvi.  20,  23,  44).     It  was  only  in    post-Biblical 


NOTES.  19'j 

times  that  the  frequent  irregularity  of  such  forma- 
tions led  to  the  adoption  of  t^tf,  p,  or  "Q  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  uncertain  gentile  termination.  Thus  we 
find  in  the  Mishnah    "OID   er>K  (for   iJIDIDH),  n"i"]^  tt^K 

(for  irman),  ubvrrr  wn,  Kmrm  wk,  and  nia'1  erw 

( '  Aboth '  i.  3,  4,  5  ;  iii.  7,  iv.  4 )  ;  ^i  rPD  V nK 
('  Y'bamoth '  xvi.  7,  for  ^in  rP2,  like  ^Mf!  rPD,  L  Kings 
xvi.  34),  etc.;  and  in  the  Gemara,  among  many  similar- 
ly formed  compounds,  tO"Ql  p  (native  of  Gamala;  see 
Neubauer,  (  La  geographie  du  Talmud,'  p.  240),  iODp  "D 
(see  Neubauer,  I.  c,  p.  277),  ^a)  tt>">K  (facetiously  turned 
into  ii  C2  WN;  cf.  II.  Chr.  xxviii.  18,  Neubauer,  I.  c, 
p.  98,  and  J.  Levy,  '  Neuhebraisches  und  Chaldiiisches 
Worterbuch,'  s.  v.  ftp}),  and  fiTTD  p  and  rnTO  "'jD 
(natives  of  Bathyra;  see  Derenbourg,  '  Essai  sur  l'histoire 
et  la  geographie  de  la  Palestine,'  vol.  i.  p.  179).  JODID  is 
known  as  the  Talmudical  name  of  a  place  to  both  Neu- 
bauer  (I.  c,  p.  269)  and  Levy  (/.  c.,s.  v.),  and  the  former 
says,  '  Lieu  natal  de  Dositai'  ;  ce  nom  etait  tres 

frequent;  on  ne  saurait  dire  quel  Kauhdba  le  Talmud 
veut  entendre.'  It  is  surprising  that  both  these  Tal- 
mudical critics  have  failed  to  perceive  that  a  KDD'D,  per- 
haps one  of  the  Kaukabas  or  Kaukabs  described  by  modern 
travellers — Bobinson  knows  several  of  them — was  also  the 
native  place  of  the  leader  in  the  Jewish  insurrection 
against  Adrian,  who  is  called  by  Christian  writers  Bar- 
Chochebas  (see  Schiirer,  '  Lehrbuch  der  Neutestament- 
lichen  Zeitgeschichte,'  p.  357),  and  in  the  Talmud  Bar- 
Chozeba.  It  was  evidently  in  allusion  to  the  meaning 
of  the  name  of  that  place  (star)  that  Babbi  Akiba 
applied    to    him    the   oracular   words    2pJTD    SDID    "pi, 


200  NOTES. 

a  star  breaks  forth  from  Jacob  (Num.  xxiv.  17),  in 
preference  to  so  many  other  prophetic  announcements 
of  Israel's  ordained  deliverer.  And  when  the  cham- 
pion failed  in  his  role  of  Messiah,  and  perished,  he 
was  cruelly  surnamed  Kpjtng  or  K3T13-J3,  man  of 
Chozeba  (NDT.b  in  L  Chr.  iv.  22,  1CTO  or  H3113  in  the 
Talmud),  a  place  whose  name  implied  deception.  The 
man  of  Cocheba,  who  had  been  hailed  as  the  rising  star  of 
Jacob,  became  a  man  of  Chozeba,  a  deceiving  son  of  Jacob 
(DpJTQ  3113),  in  his  fall.  (For  the  Talmudical  references 
to  him,  see  Levy,  I.  c,  s.  v.  HDliD,  and  Derenbourg,  I.  c, 
p.  423  et  seq.) 

K. 

(See  p  121.) 

With  "131B3  for  131D33  compare  the  closely  preceding 
rn/JH  CYO,  which  stands  for  pjl^n  DV33-  (Cf.  also 
*13~iDn  HTlDbril,  in  verse  16  of  the  same  chapter.)  Ellipti- 
cal comparisons  are  very  frequent  in  Hebrew.  See  Ps. 
xcv.  8:  [n3"nB33l    PimaD   D333^>  Wpn  ha;  Job.  v.  14: 

nnnsa    iwb"»    [rWa^i]   nWai;  is.  lix.  10:  1:^3 

L*)tW33]  P]UjD  DnPISa  ;  Is.  xxviii.  21 :  cr3")D  hPI3D]  "VD 

U"P    \\V212    lpEJ?33l    payD    m!T    U)p^;    Gen.    xviii.    11 

[ci2r:n  mtoJ  irwa  rrw  mu6  nvr6  ^*n ;  Ps.  xcii.  11 

Tip   [Pfcn  pp3l   C^SHD  Cini ;    Prov.  xix.  12,  and  xx.  2 
["PD3  DI133]  TD33    en:;    Job.  xv.  33:    ^D33]  pjg  Dan"1 

in$a  BT»tn  ns:3]  rvi3  n^wi  dds  [pan;  is.  lxiii.  2: 

rUD  fp5!  "H333]  -pro  T^tpS  Jer.  iv.  31:   H^H3  ^lp  "D 

[nT33n  ms3]  rrraana  ma  ^nynw  [n^n  ^ip3];  n. 

Sam.   xxii.    34  and   Ps.    xviii.    34 :   rebya     "fell     ITWB 
[n^\s  ^n3l;  Esth.  iii.8:  cy  [^3  *nifl  ten  PUttf  CrPFTJJ 


NOTES.  201 

Dan.  i.  10:  CD^D  "IttW  CH^Tl  frCBl  ]B  CTDyf  EFJD; 
II.  Chr.  xviii.  12:  CP1D  hntt  -Q"Ol  "iriND  "pm  M  TT 
(c/.  I.  Kings  xxii.  13);  Eccl.  vi.  5:  [m  PTOD]  HTQ  Dl^  nnj; 
Prov.  xxvi.  12:  [inipnal  USD  t^DD^  nipn  J  Gen.  xix.  9: 
IC!"6d]  CriD  *]^  y~0  nny.  For  similar  expressions  in 
Chaldee,  see  Dan.  iv.  29,  30:  p-)irD  frOt^y>  ]"HttOD  mj?ttf> 
and  prj^   TTnDtfll. 

L. 

(See  p.  137.) 

'Aliiqali,  in  Prov.  xxx.  15,  signifies  neither  a  'leech' — 
that  '  has  two  daughters ' — nor  a  '  female  blood-sucking 
monster,'  as  some  translate,  nor  any  kind  of  animal  or 
demon.  As  explained  to  the  writer,  in  his  childhood,  by 
his  revered  father  and  teacher* — and  as  Arnheim,  in  Zunz's 
Bible,  has  it — it  is  simply  the  name,  whatever  its  linguistic 
value  may  be,  of  the  author  of  the  parable-like  sayings 
which  follow  in  the  same  chapter.  These  have — with  two 
exceptions,  which  can  be  accounted  for — a  peculiar  form, 
each  grouping  together  four  objects  of  a  similar  character. 
The  opening  phrases,  in  three  groups,  run  thus  (verses 
18,  21,  29) :  '  Three  things  are  too  wonderful  for  me,  four 
I  know  not'  (=  and  a  fourth  I  know  not;  see  above, 
p.  63);  'Under  three  things  the  earth  trembles,  under 
four  it  cannot  bear  up;'  'Three  things  are  graceful  in 
stepping,  four  graceful  in  walking.'     A  fourth  group  is 

*  Born  in  Lublin,  in  1801 ;  deceased  in  Washington,  January  30, 
1863.  His  name  is  erroneously  entered  as  Heilpera  (P.  M.  or  P.)  in 
Fiirst's  '  Bibliotheca  Judaica '  and  in  Zunz's  '  Die  Monatstage  des  Ka- 
lenderjahres,  ein  Andenken  an  Hingeschiedene.'as  well  as  in  the  He- 
brew catalogues  of  the  British  Museum  and  of  the  Rosenthal  Library. 


202  NOTES. 

introduced  thus  (verse  24) :  '  Four  things  there  are.  .  .  . ' 
The  first  group  is  contained  in  verses  15  and  16,  the  text 
and  common  version  of  which  (Conant's  good  phraseology 
is  here  chosen)  are  as  follows: 

2n  271  r>U2  "TOinp^J?^     The  leech  has  two  daughters, 

Give,  Give. 
n:j?D^n  tib  71271  Wlbw    Three  things  there  are  that  are 

not  satisfied; 
pn  mamib  miK    four  say  not,  Enough! 

Qrn  *W)  blKV?    The  underworld  and  the  barren 

womb; 
D^D  njDErtA  pK    the  earth,  that  is  not  satisfied 

with  water, 
)in  mB&Ti6  tMtt    and  fire,  that  says  not,  Enough! 

Extraordinary  efforts  have  been  made,  but  in  vain,  to  put 
sense  into  renderings  like  these,  the  fundamental  error  of 
which  is  the  mistaking  of  'aluqdh  for  a  common  noun,  and 
of  'ocer  for  a  derivative  of  'dear  in  the  sense  of  closing. 
Now  la' aluqdh  (Masoretically  thus,  |  Tlp'hvb)  stands  here 
exactly  at  the  head  of  this  division  of  the  chapter,  after 
the  proverbs  of  Agur,  the  son  of  Jakeh,  as  Vddvld  (|  Dlb), 
David's  (or,  by  David),  stands  at  the  head  of  Ps.  ciii.,  of 
Ps.  cxxxviii.,  and  of  Ps.  cxliv.;  and  'ocer,  from  'acar 
in  the  sense  of  'coercere  imperio'  (Gesenius),  means 
oppression  or  tyranny  ('Druck,  Bedruckung' — Gesenius). 

{Of.  ^njn  -rar  m,  L  Sam.  ix.  17;  bo^dsi  -isim,  Is. 

liii.  8;  pn  njH  "1!&B,  ^s-  ™'u  39>  and  a^so  *$&%.  EH1\ 
Judg.  xviii.  7. )  cm  "l^y,  as  meaning  closing  of  the  womb, 
or  barren  womb,  is  an  erroneous  combination,  which  Gen. 
xx.  18  easily  explains — if  cm  is  not  altogether  a  gloss 


NOTES.  203 

attached  to  the  misunderstood  Tjy.  Rightly  explained, 
the  two  verses  have  a  simple  and  poetically  beautiful 
sense,  and  accord  perfectly  with  all  the  other  groups  of 
four,  as  the  following  will  show  (in  which  r\M2,  maidens, 
stands  figuratively  for  persons,  or  objects;  compare  the 
feminine  forms  in  verse  21): 

I  npl/j6  Aluqah's: 

2H  2H  ni2D  TIW  Two  maidens,  Give-give; 

rttJCttTi  Vlb  r^n  VFOW  three  there  are,  insatiable; 

]in  llBfrrK^  yiTlK  four,  never  saying,  Enough: 

"l^yi  b WW  Netherworld  and  tyranny; 

D^D  ny^iyN1?  V"1tf  (CiT))  (the  bosom  of)  earth,  insatiable 

of  water; 

pn  matrfcA  »W  and  fire,  never  saying,  Enough. 

Aluqah,  it  is  true,  is  a  name  mentioned  nowhere  else, 
but  such  is  also  that  of  Agur,  whose  sayings  precede  Alu- 
qah's.   To  judge  by  its  feminine  form — compare  the  names 

tow  rwrpi  rrns>  mm  n^a%  nrspi  mfe  etc.— it 

ought  to  be  the  name  of  a  woman,  and  it  is  but  a  legitimate 
conjecture  to  identify  the  writer  of  the  fine  sayings  before 
us  with  King  Lemuel's  mother,  whose  poetic  words  of  in- 
struction follow  immediately  in  the  collection.  The  con- 
cluding part  of  verse  19  is  not  unworthy  of  a  didactic  poetess, 
for  it  refers  to  the  mysterious  transit  ("pi)  of  embryonic 
man,  a  transit  both  wonderful  and  traceless,  like  the  flight  of 
the  eagle  between  the  clouds,  the  gliding  of  a  serpent  over 
rocks,  or  a  ship's  advance  through  the  heart  of  the  sea. 
That  verse  20  is  a  spurious  addition,  as  has  been  conjectured 
by  Dathe,  is  evident;  and  just  as  clearly  does  verse  17 
(3fr6  yybr\  Yy,  etc.)  belong  to  Agur's  piece  beginning  with 


204  NOTES. 

verse  11  (bbp*1  YON  TH,  etc.),  while  HD^  T  in  verse  32 
points  to  a  connection  between  it  and  verses  8  and  9  of  the 
following  chapter,  both  of  which  open  with  *r^o  PinD- 

M. 

(See  p.  137.) 

Hosea's  arraignment  of  the  priests  was,  in  its  tenor  and 
language,  before  Isaiah's  mind — whether  he  was  conscious 
of  it  or  not — when  he  composed  what  is  now  the  latter  part 
of  his  first  chapter.  Isaiah,  having  used  (i.  10)  the  open- 
ing call,  '  Hear  Jehovah's  word,'  says  (18),  '  "  Come  on, 
let  us  argue,"  says  Jehovah:'  Hosea  begins  (iv.  1),  'Hear 
Jehovah's  word,  ye  sons  of  Israel;  for  Jehovah  has  a  con- 
troversy with  the  dwellers  in  the  land.'  Isaiah's  nrQIil 
(18)  corresponds  to  Hosea's  rOV  /Nl  (4).  Isaiah's 
mournful  exclamation  (21)  on  contemplating  the  moral 
fall  of  Judah's  capital :  '  How  has  she  become  a  harlot 
(nyvb  PKVn),  the  faithful  city ! '  alludes  to  Hosea's  (15) 
'  If  thou  practisest  whoredom  (HDN  HjIT),  0  Israel,  let  not 
Judah  become  guilty.'  Isaiah  says  (22),  '  Thy  drink 
(nS'DD)  is  diluted  with  water:'  Hosea  (18),  'Their  drink 
(CJOD)  is  rank.'  Isaiah  says  (19),  'Thy  rulers  are  un- 
ruly (c*HTiD  T"3tt0':  Hosea  (16),  '  Like  an  unbroken  heifer 
(m~iD  ri"lD)  has  Israel  become  intractable  (^px— i^"1  TID)-' 
Isaiah  adds  (18),  'And  associates  of  thieves  (D,23J  "H2n),' 
which  is  an  imitation  of  Hosea's  'wound  up  with  idols' 
(COStf  "YOn,  17).  Isaiah  says  (18),  'Each  of  them  loves 
bribes  (iTW  3nN):'  Hosea  (18),  'They  love  "0  give 
("Oil  Onx)-"  Isaiah  predicts  (29,  30)  that  the  people 
will  blush  (l^ir)  for  the  large  trees  (c^\SS  Tlbti)  and  the 
gardens    (fY^n)    which  they  like  so  much:   he  evidently 


NOTES.  205 

speaks  of  the  shady  sacrificial  places,  contaminated  by 
lascivious  practices,  of  which  Hosea  says,  '  They  sacrifice 
.  .  .  under  oak  (ybti)  and  poplar  and  terebinth  (r6x)> 
the  shade  of  which  is  pleasant'  (13),  'They  shall  blush 
(lEG'*)  for  their  sacrifices'  (19),  and — as  Isaiah  read  the 
words  (18) — '  Shame  for  its  gardens  (iT^D  P'p)-'  A  later 
prophet's  expressions,  P12J3  CTOl  and  CUIpnaH  .  •  • 
ni22n  7tf>  etc.  (Is.  lxv.  3,  lxvi.  17),  remind  us  of  Isaiah's 
rfMriD  IIDnni  (i-  29)  as  well  as  of  Hosea's  TQr  munpn  cjn 
(iv.  14)  and  nXDta  Wy\  (iv.  19). 

N. 

(See  p.  144.) 

Sh'buth  and  sh'bith  are  thus  explained  after  Gesenius  by 
the  last  editors  of  his  Lexicon,  Miihlau  and  Volck:  'Gefan- 
genschaft  [from  rDttf]  4  M.  21,  29  .  .  .  ,  und  concr. 
die  Gefangenen  (eines  Volkes),  fVQtf  2W  sie  zuruck- 
fiihren  5  M.  30,  3,  .  .  .  dann  bildlich  von  der 
Herstellung  des  Gliickes  und  Wohlstandes  Hi.  42,  10  : 
2^K    ETQttrnK    2^    Him  und  Jahve   stellte   den  Wohl- 

*  •  V  T  T 

stand  Hiobs  wieder  her.'  They  add,  however:  *  Freilich 
lassen  sich  rVD$  und  ]T3$  als  st.  cst?\  (nur  dieser  kommt 
vor,  mit  Ausnahme  von  4  M.  21,  29  .  .  .  )  audi  von 
einem  st.  absol.  rVDt£>\  rP2ttf  ableiten  und  auf  y\W  •  •  • 
zuruckfiihren,  wofiir  zunachst  spricht,  dass  rVQ$  un(i 
n,,3#  ausschliesslich  in  der  Phrase  7D  rf\2VJ  2W  vorkommen 
(vgl.  fQ  D"H  3"H>  70  nopj  Cp3  u.  a.),  welche  dann  zu 
ubers.  ist:  Wendung  wenden  (so  Ewald  .  .  .  )  oder 
besser:  Herstellung  herstellen  (s.  bes.  Bottcher  .  .  .  ), 
wie  schon  Symm.  Hi.  42, 10:  eniffTpstps  r?)v  avaarpocprfv 
rov  'lev/I — eine   Phrase,  welche  insbes.  von  der  (schliess- 


206  N0TE8. 

lichen)  Herstellung  des  aus  dem  Exil  zuriickgefiihrten 
Volkes  Israel  gebraucht  wird.'  In  the  one  form  or  the 
other — and  the  Masorites  have  often  changed  each — the 
word  occurs  in  Scripture  thirty-one  times;  the  phrase, 
in  every  instance  but  one  (Job.  xlii.  10),  refers  to  the 
restoration  of  a  people,  and  in  almost  all  instances  to  resto- 
ration after  a  national  catastrophe — total  overthrow  or  cap- 
tivity. Only  in  the  solitary  sentence  in  which  it  is  found 
in  the  st.  absol.  and  unconnected  with  the  verb  y\y  (Num. 
xxi.  29),  the  word  positively  means  captivity,  or  capture, 
but  there  it  stands  perhaps,  by  mistake,  for  !T3^,  cap- 
ture, which  is  given  in  Jer.  xlviii.  46,  a  paraphrase  of  that 
sentence.  (rP3tt%  on  the  other  hand,  ought  probably  to 
be  read  for  rcttf — which  elsewhere  does  not  mean  return — 
in  Ps.  cxxvi.  1 ;  cf.  verse  4. )  And  it  would  be  hard  to  decide 
whether  for  rP3W  yw  or  iTQitf  y\W  the  more  applicable 
rendering,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  would  be  to  turn  the 
captivity  {to  bring  back  the  captives)  or  to  bring  bach  the 
prosperity  (to  bring  a  turn,  to  bring  a  restoration). 
Neither  is  it  certain  that  rP3tt>  and  n"Qtt>  are  not  to  be 
taken  as  distinct  words  —  though  not  exactly  as  the 
Masorites  distinguished  them — rPDltf*  from  nDttf,  meaning 
captivity,  and  ni2lf ?  from  yw,  a  turn  or  restoration. 
What  is  patent,  however,  is  that  the  phrase,  whether 
meaning  restoration  from  captivity,  or  restoration  to 
prosperity,  public  or  individual,  is  of  late  date — that  is, 
a  phrase  made  familiar  by  the  frequent  talk  of  Israel's 
national  restoration  from  captivity,  just  as  the  words  revo- 
lution and  restoration  have  in  modern  times  become  popu- 
lar in  the  figurative  sense  through  the  historical  revolu- 
tions and  restorations  in  England  and  France.    The  phrase 


NOTES.  207 

occurs  once  in  the  Pentateuch  (Deut.  xxx.  3),  in  a  verse 
referring  to  the  dispersion  of  Israel  through  all  the 
nations,  and  written  at  the  earliest  in  the  time  of  Josiah, 
a  century  after  the  beginning  of  the  Assyrian  captivity; 
twice  in  Zephaniah  (ii.  7,  iii.  20),  whose  first  chapter  was 
composed  under  Josiah;  eleven  times  in  Jeremiah:  twice 
in  prophecies  of  uncertain  but  apparently  late  date  (xlviii. 
47,  xlix.  6),  and  nine  times  in  prophecies  uttered  after  the 
carrying  off  of  Jeconiah  into  Babylonian  captivity  (xxix. 
14,  xxx.  3,  xxx.  18,  xxxi.  23,  xxxii.  44,  xxxiii.  7,  xxxiii. 
11,  xxxiii.  26,  xlix.  39);  three  times  in  Ezekiel,  who 
prophesied  after  that  event  (xxix.  14,  xxxix.  25,  and  xvi. 
53,  where  ^pO"1^  JTOtt^  is  a  corruption  of  rfiDWl  *]rYQtm 
TO'OSj  as  the  context,  including  verse  55,  shows);  once  in 
Lamentations  (ii.  14),  which  bewails  a  later  catastrophe; 
once  in  Job  (I.  c),  probably  also  a  product  of  the  Chaldean 
period;  and  four  times  in  psalms  praying  for  restoration 
which  is  to  spring  from  Zion  (Ps.  xiv.  7,  liii.  7)  and  for  the  re- 
vival of  Israel  (lxxxv.  2,  cxxvi.  4).  The  only  verses  in  all  the 
Bible  in  which  the  phrase  appears  as  written  before  the  As- 
syrian captivity  are  Am.  ix.  14  and  Hos.  vi.  11,  but  it  has  been 
shown  above  (pp.  102,  103,  144)  that  the  former  belongs  to 
a  spurious  piece,  and  that  the  latter  is  probably  incorrect. 

O. 

(See  p.  151.) 

Ewald  reads,  instead  of  ^rPiO  "lltftSi  TViCI  1#^  and> 
identifying  ~w#  with  JT^#K>  which  he  renders  by  Hain, 
grove,  he  translates  here,  '  Efraim  gleicht  mir  lusthainen 
von  Tyriern  in  einer  aue  gepflanzt.'  But  that  rendering  of 
mm  pi.   DniPN  and  nriUW,  is  impugned  by  I.  KiDgs 


208  NOTES. 

xiv.  23,  II.  Kings  xvii.  10,  Jer.  xvii.  2,  Dent.  xvi.  21,  and 
Jndg.  vi.  25,  according  to  which  rTHItfK  were  erected  under 
and  by  trees,  and  on  or  by  altars.  They  are,  therefore, 
explained  by  other  expounders  as  signifying  symbolic 
images  of  the  goddess  of  happiness  (Astarte),  shaped  like 
trees.  Such  an  ~w#  Hosea  would  surely  not  have  intro- 
duced here.  It  is,  therefore,  plainer  either  to  read  ^#N3, 
like  a  tamarisk,  or  more  or  less  closely  to  identify  the 
-IWK  before  us  (perhaps  to  be  read  1#N)  with  the  "fi$NH  of 
Is.  xli.  19,  lx.  13,  and  Ezek.  xxvii.  6  (where  D"nt?ftrrO 
evidently  stands  for  D'l~l$jKn3>  as  the  Targum  and  Eashi 
understood  it),  a  tree  of  Lebanon  and  the  eastern  islands 
of  the  Mediterranean,  the  name  of  which  is  derived  from 
~Wtt  (like  bhz7\  from  bhl),  in  reference  to  tallness  and 
straightness.  That  a  tree  is  meant  is  apparent  from  the 
following  r&nTP  and  W2^  CttntP  CHDK  i"13n,  etc.  (Cf. 
also  verse  10:  PUKrQ  rTVD33  ^iW  ™SD  121G2  UW2 

crniuK  Tp*n  nrrtwna,  in  which  tpio  •  •  •  rnoaa 

DDTfQK  corresponds  to  TPiO  TOIO  CHDK,  as  explained. ) 

P. 

(See  p.  154.) 

The  following,  too,  is  derived  from  'oral  information 
obtained  many  years  ago  from  a  Hebraist  of  Warsaw '  (see 
vol.  i.  p.  237) — pleasantly  remembered  by  the  writer  as 
Abraham  Moses  (without  the  surname),  a  friend  of  the 
mathematician  Abraham  Stern  and  the  astronomer  Slo- 
nimski: 

Alvah  (rvbv)  was  an  Edomite  district,  ruled  by  one  of 
those  dukes  of  Esau  who  are  recorded  by  the  names  of 
their  localities  (cn»tP2   CPEpE^),  thus:  duke  of  Teman 


NOTES.  209 

(the  South),  duke  of  Mibzar  (the  Fortress;  Gen.  xxxvi. 
40,  42,  I.  Chr.  i.  51,  53).  This  district  corresponds  to  the 
tribe  of  Alvan,  which,  like  Manahath,  was  descended  from 
the  Horite  Shobal  (nrOB!  ])bv  blW  ^2;  Gen.  xxxvi.  23, 
I.  Chr.  i.  40).  Manahath  was  also  the  name  of  a  place  in 
Benjamin,  near  Geba  (cf.  nn:a_^X  crfem  JOJ  "Wt6  [YOK 
I.  Chr.  viii.  G),  a  town  adjoining  Gibeah.  This  Manahath 
is  identical  with  rfi3D>  whither  the  Benjamites,  after  their 
terrible  defeat,  were  pursued  by  their  victors.  (Judg.  xx. 
43:  njDJn  nD3  IV  injmn  r\nW.)  At  the  time  of  that 
internecine  contest  various  towns  in  Benjamin  were  in- 
habited by  non-Hebrew  tribes;  for  we  read  that  the 
Levite  whose  journey  through  that  canton  was  the  inno- 
cent cause  of  the  war,  said  to  the  young  man  who  accom- 
panied him,  '  We  will  not  turn  into  a  city  of  strangers,  one 
of  those  that  are  not  of  the  children  of  Israel  (ittW 
n2H  btfTW*  "0DB~fr6);  but  we  will  pass  over  to  Gibeah.' 
Among  these  non-Hebrews  were  Horites,  probably  kindred 
to  both  Alvan  and  Manahath,  and  the  founders  of  Manahath 
among  other  neighboring  places,  to  whom  Hosea  (x.  9,  10) 
alludes,  remarking,  that  the  double  sin  of  Gibeah,  which 
caused  the  almost  total  extermination  of  the  Benjamites, 
so  strengthened  the  foreigners  around  that  city  that  the 
Benjamite  remnants  had  to  defend  themselves  against 
them:  '  Had  they  (the  Benjamites)  remained  there,  no  war 
would  have  befallen  them,  at  Gibeah,  with  the  sons  of 
Alvah'  (Tvby  "02);  but  the  Benjamites  sinned  and  bled, 
'and  tribes  (CDJ?)  gathered  against  them.' 


210  NOTES. 

Q- 

(See  p.  155.) 

Neither  Shalman  nor  Beth-Arbel  is  mentioned  any- 
where else  in  Scripture.  There  was,  however,  an  Arbela 
in  Galilee,  mentioned  in  the  first  book  of  Maccabees  and 
in  Josephus,  and  another  east  of  the  Jordan,  known  to 
Eusebius  and  Jerome,  besides  the  Arbela  of  Assyria,  made 
famous  by  the  victory  of  Alexander  the  Great  over  Darius; 
and  each  of  these  three  places  might  possibly  be  the 
Beth-Arbel  of  Hosea,  while  Shalman  might  be  deemed  an 
abridged  form  of  Shalmaneser.  Of  the  Assyrian  con- 
querors of  that  name,  the  one  who  warred  against  the  last 
king  of  Israel  is  too  late  a  ruler  to  be  considered  here  (see 
above,  p.  130  and  elsewhere),  and  before  him  only  one 
made  an  expedition — against  Damascus,  about  773  B.C. — 
in  the  course  of  which  one  of  the  Palestinian  Arbelas  (the 
eastern)  may  have  been  stormed  and  sacked;  while  a  sack- 
ing of  the  Assyrian  Arbela,  a  fact  nowhere  alluded  to  in 
the  inscriptions,  and  for  which  no  motive  is  historically 
apparent,  would  have  been  too  remote  an  event  to  be 
incidentally  spoken  of  by  an  Israelitish  prophet,  as  familiar 
to  his  hearers  or  readers.  Thus,  if  Shalman  stands  for 
Shalmaneser,  no  other  Assyrian  king  but  the  Shalmaneser 
who  reigned  between  780  and  770  can  be  meant.  There 
is,  however,  a  Salaman  mentioned  in  the  Assyrian  records 
with  whom,  as  has  been  pointed  out  by  Schrader  ('Die 
Keilinschriften  und  das  Alte  Testament,'  pp.  283,  284), 
the  Shalman  of  the  prophet  can  be  more  plainly  identi- 
fied. Salaman  is  enumerated  among  many  other  princes 
tributary  to  Tiglath-Pileser,  as  king  of  Moab.      He  was 


NOTES.  211 

thus  a  (probably  younger)  contemporary  of  Hosea.  This 
Salaman  may  in  his  earlier  years,  during  the  confusion 
which  reigned  in  the  kingdom  of  Israel  after  the  fall  of  the 
house  of  Jehu,  have  ravaged  the  Israelitish  territories  bor- 
dering on  Moab,  and,  in  a  'day  of  battle,'  ravaged  Beth- 
Arbel,  the  Transjordanic  Arbela.  This  conjecture  removes 
a  part  of  the  argument  on  which  Graetz  ('Geschichte  der 
Juden,'  vol.  i.  part  i.  pp.  99,  100)  bases  his  substitution  of 

cpyv  rva  nhw  -titfa  for  ^tanx  tva  pbw  -rao,  a 

rather  violent  alteration,  which  is,  however,  not  without 
support.     He  says :  '  Fur  den  dunklen  Vers,  Hosea  10,  14, 

nor6o  era  biarw  rra  ]cbw  iwd  iw   *psao  bj\ 

niftOI  COa  by  EK  hat  die  griechische  Uebersetzung  etwas 
anderes,  woraus  hervorgeht,  dass  sie  eine  andere  L.-A. 
vor  sich  hatte:  gjZ  apxoov  2aXajudv  ex.  rod  oikov 
'I  e  p  o  ft  o  a  fx.  Eine  Variante  hat  'lepofiadX  statt 
'Iepofiodju,  was  gewiss  ein  Fehler  ist.  Diese  L.-A.  ist 
alt,  Hieronymus  kannte  sie  schon,  wenn  er  sie  auch,  als 
nicht  in  seinen  Kram  passend,  verwarf.  So  viel  geht  aus 
dieser  Uebersetzung  hervor,  dass  sie  den  Eigennamen 
Yebw  nicht  von  einem  assyrischen  Konig,  noch  ^N2"1N  rva 
von  einem  Ortsnamen  verstanden  hat.  Aehnlich  lautet  die 
syrische  Uebersetzung:  ]q  Ka^un  NDta  *pK  ]V12TV 
Wlpl  NDTa  ^btn^.  Auch  diese  hatte  nicht  die 
L.-A.  YoblD  vor  sich,  sondern  nbv-  Auch  die  chaldaische 
Version  las  nhvt-  Ohnehin  ist  es  bedenklich  anzunehmen, 
dass  Hosea  von  dem  Wiithen  eines  assyrischen  Konigs  in 
Arbela  in  der  Tigrisgegend  gesprochen  haben  soil.  .  .  . 
Zudem  kommt  noch,  dass  ein  Konig  Namens  Salman  in 
der  assyrischen  Geschichte  gar  nicht  untergebracht  werden 
kann.     Man   miisste    ihn  denn  als  Abkiirzung  von  Sal- 


212  NOTES. 

manassar  nehmen,  was  durchaus  gezwungen  ist.  Die 
richtige  Erkliirung  drangt  sich  auf,  wenn  man  nbw  und 
CyDT  TO  liest  statt  ^JOIN  TO:  " So  wie  S c h all u m  in 
dem  Ha  use  Jerobeams  II.  wiithete,  Mutter  und 
Kinder  wurden  zerschmettert."  Dieses  Gleichniss  war 
verstiindlich,  es  spielte  auf  eine  Thatsache  an,  welche 
dem  Volke  noch  im  Gediichtnisse  war.  Dass  -^  auch 
"  wiithen"  bedeutet,  braucht  nicht  bewiesen  zu  werden.' 
This  remark  is  correct,  but  the  comparison,  thus  forced 
upon  the  text,  of  wasted  fortresses  with  the  extermination 
of  a  royal  family  is  a  very  lame  one.  Nor  are  the  readings 
of  the  ancient  versions  of  much  value  for  a  reconstruction 
of  the  text,  for  they  contradict  each  other,  the  Greek  sub- 
stituting CJ72T  or  byy?  for  /WIN,  the  Syriac  rendering 
the  latter  half  of  this  word  (b#),  and  the  Chaldee  the  first 
(by  N333,  the  equivalent  of  2~ix,  ambush) — and  the  latter 
two  thus  collectively  confirming  the  reading  ^fcO*lK,  against 
the  Septuagint,  which  blundered  also  in  reading  *)fy 
(=  apxGov)  for  "W,  and  altogether  mistranslated  the  sen- 
tence. On  the  other  hand,  there  seems  to  be  strong  support 
for  Schrader's  view  in  the  phraseology  of  Hosea  in  the  verse 
before  us  and  the  one  immediately  following.  If  we  com- 
pare these  with  the  opening  verse  of  the  ancient  elegy  on 
Moab  which  Isaiah  reproduced  and  supplemented  (Is.  xv., 
xvi. ;  see  above,  p.  46  et  seq.),  it  becomes  highly  probable 
that  Hosea  had  it  before  him  when  speaking  of  the  ravages 
of  Shalman  at  Beth-Arbel.  Is.  xv.  1  has  twice  ii$  and 
twice  nm]  :  Hosea  has  here  -|jtf3  -\vjv  and  rin~0  nb~2  ; 
there  we  read  of  destruction  in  the  night  (^jj) :  here,  of 
destruction  at  dawn  ("1PI$2)>  there  we  read  of  the  desola- 


NOTES.  213 

tion  of  the  fortresses  of  Moab,  Ar-Moab  and  Kir-Moab: 
here,  of  that  of  the  fortresses  of  Israel.  And  the  supposi- 
tion is  natural  that  it  was  not  an  accidental  reminiscence 
which  made  Hosea  repeat  the  words  of  an  older  prophet, 
but  some  reflection  connecting  them  with  the  terrible 
events  which  he  depicted.  The  identification  of  Shalman, 
the  destroyer  of  Beth-Arbel,  with  Salaman  of  Moab  reveals 
that  reflection :  Owing  to  the  sins  of  the  Israelites,  that 
which  was  formerly  done  by  them  to  the  cities  of  Moab  is 
now  done  to  the  cities  of  Israel  by  the  Moabites;  the  de- 
struction is  as  sudden,  as  complete,  and  as  merciless. 


END    OF   VOL.  II. 


S.  W.  Green's  Son,  Printer,  71  Beekman  Street,  New  York. 


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